The Fall
by Epic Laughter
Summary: Everything seems to be going well for budding young gardener Leena, but one can never know what the future will hold.
1. Prologue

"Another morning's work is all done!" Leena brushed her gloved hands together and grinned confidently, planting her hands on her hips, which had begun to widen a bit in the past two months. She was maturing both physically and emotionally. After Leena's win at the P-Factor, she had an enormous boost in confidence. Her gardening skills had increased dramatically and her plot of land had finally become the little piece of paradise she wanted it to be.

Leena's garden had started to look like a fairy land with its light colors and shady trees. Leena had recently developed a fondness for Hootyfruities and had quite a few flittering around. She finally managed to attract some larger piñatas, too, she had Ponockies and even a female Eaglair she named Eleanor. Leena's white picket fences and lightly colored flowers were a treat for the eyes, and at the very center of the garden was an enormous oak tree. Leena loved that tree very much; she and Seedos had planted it together the day after they came home from Poprockolis. Leena was so happy that it grew up big and strong.

Leena's favorite piñata, Crispy the Squazzil, loved to climb up that tree and sleep in its branches. Leena was glad Crispy loved the oak so much; Leena wouldn't be where she was today if it weren't for that little Squazzil's victory!

"Everything looks _amazing,_ Leena!" Seedos grinned enormously at her, giving her a thumbs up. "I swear, your garden gets prettier every day! Your plants are happy, too."

As always Leena turned red at Seedos' compliments. Even though they had gone on two dates in Poprockolis, he still hadn't made the slightest romantic move towards her. Leena didn't mind too terribly; he still spent a lot of time with her every single day, helping her in her garden and cheering her on.

Leena came down from her cloud of thoughts when she heard a familiar motorized wheelchair sputter towards the garden.

"Oh, crap!" Seedos bolted behind the enormous oak tree as quickly as he possibly could.

"Hello there, Miss Leena," The Great Jardiniero skidded to a stop and leaned forward to examine Leena's garden. "I see you've been working hard again today! That's just what I like to see!"

Leafos, who had arrived with her father, let out a little giggle. "Leena always works hard, Dad, you don't have to check on her every single day!"

Jardiniero tsk-tsk'd. "Now, Leafos, I can't have Leena slacking off! Especially since she's taking care of the family's old property!" Stroking his beard a bit, Jardiniero smirked and added: "I'll be completely honest. I like looking at her progress. She's almost as great as I was! Almost."

"Thank you, sir!" Leena still couldn't believe she had _Jardiniero_ complimenting her on a regular basis. She always saw him as stoic, tough, and strict, so having him smile at her hard work seemed like a miracle!

"By the way, have you seen that no good son of mine?" Jardiniero shielded his eyes from the autumn sun's glare and looked around Leena's garden. "I need to ask him a question."

"_We_ need to ask him a question, Dad," Leafos cut in, flipping a pigtail over her shoulder.

"Oh, uh, he went home for a while… I think he was sleepy," Leena lied with a shrug of her shoulders. Jardiniero seemed to buy that. He sighed heavily and shook his head, looking at his daughter for support.

"Don't worry, Dad," Leafos patted his shoulder. "I'll ask him about you-know-what next time I see him. Promise."

"Good," Jardiniero smiled at Leafos before turning back to Leena. "Keep up the fantastic work! Don't get too cocky; you don't want to mess up!" With that, Jardiniero turned his wheelchair around and began a bumpy trek up the Village road, Leafos following close behind.

Once they were safely out of earshot, Leena let out a little sigh and turned around to face her garden.

"Seedos?" she called, planting one hand on her hip. "They're gone. You can come out now!"

"Whew…" Seedos sighed with relief as he stumbled out from behind the tree. "That was a close call. Thanks for covering for me, Leena, it means a lot!" His mask split into a gigantic grin.

"They sounded like they had something important to tell you, though…" Leena scratched her head in thought as she walked back over to Seedos. "You better Alert your sister as soon as you can, 'kay?" Leena tilted her head and smiled at Seedos. "She was being kind of mysterious about it… she called whatever she wanted to ask you about 'you-know-what.' It might be serious, so I won't pry." Leena shook her head and folded her arms.

"Oh man, Leafos usually can't keep secrets in…" Seedos gnawed on his nails. "It _must_ be serious! I'm gonna go home and shoot her an Alert, sorry, Leena!" Seedos ran towards the swamp, but stopped as soon as he got to the bridge. He turned around and waved goodbye. "Keep up the good work, all right?" With a smile, he turned around and ambled into his boggy home.

Leena gave a little wave as Seedos left her sight. She turned her attention back to her garden, happily noticing that all her piñatas were getting along famously. Leena was glad they were all feeling happy!

"I need to plant more tulips…" Leena dug in her pocket for the seeds Seedos had given her earlier. "That Galagoogoo won't attract itself!"

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"Huh? A party?" Seedos blinked, a little surprised. He was lounging maskless on his wicker couch with his Alert System pressed to his ear, his Shellybeans surrounding him.

"Yes indeed!" Seedos could practically hear his oldest sister nodding. "It's almost Leena's sixteenth birthday, you know! Turning sixteen is a big thing where Leena comes from, so we figured we'd throw her one heck of a shindig!" Leafos giggled joyfully. "Not to mention it'll be a nice way to congratulate her for how much she's improved! I'm so proud of how far she's come!"

"I know, right?" Seedos let an enormous grin cross his face. "I'm proud of her too!"

"Oh, I bet you are…" Leafos teased, her voice peppered with mischievousness. "Anyway, you know what Leena likes. I need your help with decorations and presents and things like that. The party's in two days and it's a surprise, so don't you even _think_ about telling Leena!" Seedos imagined Leafos wagging a finger at him.

"I won't, Leafos!" Seedos crossed his heart. "Are you guys having it at the P-Factor auditorium?"

"How'd you know?" Leafos asked, sounding a bit surprised.

"That's pretty much the only place in the Village that can accommodate a big party!" Seedos grinned. "Anyway, do you want me to meet you somewhere to discuss party stuff?"

"Yes, please! Arfur's Inn at three o'clock! Don't let Leena follow you!" Leafos warned.

"I'll make sure… on one condition," Seedos' voice was firm and unwavering.

"What's that?"  
"Don't let Dad follow _you."_

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Avalon looked around her garden, making sure no one was hiding in the trees or lurking up the road. Once she decided the coast was clear, she grabbed her Alert System and called Dastardos.

"Dastardos?" she whispered into her Alert System. "Come quickly. There's something yew need to see…"

The night before, Dastardos had given Avalon his Vulchurro, after putting up with her mournful squawking for the past couple of months. Victoria wanted nothing more than to be with Avalon's Crowla, Cid, who she had fallen in love with during their time in Poprockolis. Dastardos finally realized what she wanted and handed her over to Avalon.

"It's for the best," Dastardos had noted the previous night, a guilty look on his twisted mask. "My Vulchurros have a tendency to… bite it. You'll take much better care of her than I will, I'm sure."

That morning, Avalon had woken up to her doorbell ringing. She opened it to find Storkos looking quite baffled, a large purple and green egg in her arms.

"Um… are you aware two piñatas in your garden cross bred?" Storkos knitted her brow, holding out the egg to Avalon.

"Oh, no…" Avalon frowned intensely. "I thought I forbade my Rashberry and Swanana from even _looking_ at each other! Ugh, I don't want to deal with a Pigxie…!"

"This isn't a Pigxie egg, Avalon… it's a… um…" Storkos frowned as she tried to come up with a name. "I'm not sure what it is. It's a new cross species. Vulchurro and Crowla. The baby shouldn't come out as disfigured as a Pigxie, but…" Storkos bit her lower lip.

"I should 'ave foreseen this…" Avalon shook her head, taking the egg from the shorter girl's arms. "My new Vulchurro and Cid are absolutely _crazy_ about each other."

"Well, send me a picture of the baby when it hatches, all right?" The fact that Avalon wasn't insisting on Storkos taking the egg back made Storkos really happy. She was glad the newly hatched chick would have a loving home! "Cross breeds are really rare on this Island, so this baby will go down in history! You can probably even name the species!" Storkos beamed up at Avalon, resting her hand against her cheek. "It's so exciting! I'm kind of jealous!"

"'Opefully it won't up being too much of a 'assle. Wait a second, Storkos; don't fly off just yet…" Avalon walked into her house, placed the egg on the couch, and walked back to the door. She gave Storkos an outrageously generous tip.

"Avalon… this is too much!" Storkos gaped at Avalon, who just laughed.

"Only the best for my buddy Yoto's girl!" Avalon winked at Storkos, who turned bright red.

"Who… who told you about that?" Storkos seemed genuinely shocked.

"The man 'imself! Don't worry; I don't go spreading things around. Thanks for the delivery," Avalon waved goodbye to Storkos and shut the door before she insisted on giving back the tip.

"I should call Dastardos…" Avalon whispered to herself, smiling broadly. She was excited to hear Dastardos' reaction!

Now, Avalon was sitting in her garden, the egg in her arms, waiting for Dastardos to arrive. Her excitement had faded and now she had no idea how Dastardos would take this news. Someone who has a reputation of being a crazy villain isn't likely to coo over baby piñatas, after all. But it was worth a shot…!

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"Today's the day, Yen…" Yen held the carefully wrapped necklace Yoto had given him for Avalon back in Poprockolis, a triumphant smile on his face. After Yen's spectacular failure at the afterparty of the trip, he had to spend a few months recovering before he could give Avalon her present. He hoped she'd like it…

Yen's mind was filled with happy scenarios about what would happen when he finally gave Avalon the gift…

_"Oh, Yen, it's beautiful!" Avalon said, completely breathless from the beauty of the necklace. She fastened it around her slender neck and smiled her dazzling smile, her dark eyes shimmering with delight._

_ "It is beautiful… but it's not even close to being as beautiful as you…" Yen took Avalon in his arms and leaned in, his lips mere inches from hers._

_ "Oh Yen… you are truly a poet!" Avalon sighed, her hot breath tickling Yen's mouth. She moved closer and their lips met, finally, after Yen had kept his feelings bottled up inside for so long…_

Yen snapped out of his fantasy, his cheeks burning. "God, that was silly…" Yen shook his head around, messing up his dark red hair quite a bit. "I'm turning into Yoto… ugh, that's the last thing I want…"

Yoto was so damn hung up on Storkos that he hadn't stopped whining about his failed proposal since everyone got back to the Village. Two months of Yoto whining nonstop was too much for Bart and Yen to handle.

"I really wish that brother of yours succeeded in his romantic endeavor," Bart had told Yen a couple nights ago, his mask's expression one of complete disapproval. "Then he would be out of this house and out of our hair!"

It was hard to disagree with Bart on that one.

"My love life is much more important than Yoto's…" Yen smoothed his unruly locks with one hand. "I'm intelligent and actually capable of holding a conversation. I'll never know how Storkos puts up with him…" Yen sighed, looking down at the package in his hands. "…but Yoto's not all bad. He did find the perfect gift for Avalon, after all…" Yen chuckled to himself. "…but he won't be getting any credit for his find, I'm afraid."

Looking up, Yen noticed he was almost to Avalon's garden. Yen felt his cheeks grow hot when he realized he had been talking to himself. _Oh God, if Avalon overheard me rambling I'd be crossed off her list of potential boyfriends for sure… _Yen swallowed, his hands getting a bit shaky. _I can't even __think__ about that…_

Yen arrived at the end of the path and was surprised to hear Avalon exclaim "_THERE_ yew are!"

Yen felt his heart flutter. Was she expecting him? Has she been waiting, day in and day out, for Yen to pay her a visit? Oh, she was probably all dolled up and gorgeous, Yen couldn't wait to see-

Hold on a second… Avalon wasn't talking to him.

Realizing she had company, Yen dove into a thicket of trees, his heart pounding. He should have foreseen that Avalon would have a guest! She was a gorgeous and popular woman, after all…

"Calling me out this early?" a cold, familiar voice snarled. "This better be good."

"It's eleven in the morning," Avalon sounded mildly annoyed.

"Yes, it's horribly, horribly early. What is it?"

Yen felt like his heart jumped right out of his throat and onto the ground in an enormous, bloody puddle. Yen dropped the gift he was holding and buried his mask in his hands, choking back despairful sobs.

Avalon was talking to _Dastardos!_ Yen was hoping that her hanging around him in Poprockolis was a fluke, but apparently they were still friends! Or maybe… something more…?

The very idea of that was enough to make Yen shed a few tears.

_Man up, Yen! Avalon wouldn't want a crybaby!_ The nagging voice in the back of Yen's head shouted.

Yen wasn't listening. He was too damn upset. He couldn't even will himself to stand up and leave.

"Is that an egg…?" Dastardos leaned forward to examine what Avalon was holding, furrowing his brow in thought. "You called me out here for an _egg?_ I don't deal in eggs, Avalon. Why don't you take this up with that fat chick?"

"What's gotten into yew? Yew're being _extra_ rude…" Avalon glared at Dastardos, who grinned at her.

"Just taking precautions in case someone's listening in," Dastardos put his hands behind his back, swaying in mid-air mischievously.

Avalon rolled her eyes. He had no need to act this way, especially since them conversing in the first place was suspicious to begin with.

"It's not just any egg, Dastardos," Avalon rubbed the papery egg affectionately. "It's Cid and Victoria's egg!" Avalon nodded in the direction of the birds, who were sitting up in a tree, happily cuddling. "They Romance Danced and they're going to have a chick really soon!"

"A new cross-breed?" Dastardos held up his hands. "I swear, if it comes out looking like a Pigxie, I'm going to put its out of its misery and spare everyone the sight."

"It won't come out looking like a Pigxie!" Avalon couldn't believe Dastardos sometimes. He'd kill a cute little baby piñata just because it was weird looking? "Vulchurros and Crowlas are pretty similar when yew get right down to it! It'll probably come out absolutely beautiful!" Avalon moved the egg around a little bit. "It's really heavy, though. This isn't going to be a small bird…"

Yen couldn't take it anymore. Dastardos and Avalon's piñatas fell and love and had an egg together?! That was too much for him to take! He couldn't stick around; he'd go completely insane!

Yen grabbed the present from the ground, stood up, and whirled around, tears flowing off of his mask and hitting the grass at his feet. Suddenly, Yen's foot got caught on a rock and he fell to the ground with a loud _thump!_

Avalon didn't hear Yen fall, but Dastardos' sensitive ears picked it up. Dastardos felt his heart stop and he looked into the jungle. Dastardos saw the slightest hint of movement as Yen scrambled to his feet and sped off.

"I have to go!" Dastardos suddenly blurted, turning around in mid-air and kicking off the ground, speeding through the air like a tiny rocket.

"Dastardos, wait-!" Avalon thrust out a hand to attempt to grab his scarf, but he was already quite a ways off. Avalon sighed, hugging the egg to her chest and knitting her brow. "I should 'ave known 'e wouldn't care about all this… wot was I thinking?"

Cid stopped snuggling Victoria and flew to Avalon, resting on her shoulder and nudging her cheek with his beak.

"Good boy, Cid…" Avalon scratched his papery head, letting herself half-smile. "At least _yew_ care."

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"That annoying little brat…!" Pester slammed his meaty hands onto his keyboard, grinding his teeth loudly in anger. "I can't _believe_ that jackass Jardiniero is actually pleased with her!"

The evil professor had spent the past several hours watching his wall of monitors, and Leena's sudden increase in skill was totally pissing him off! Jardiniero's garden plot was supposed to be in abysmal condition _forever!_ When the young, dithering, _scatterbrained_ Leena took over the land, Pester was pleased. He thought she'd _never_ get better, leaving the garden of a legend in the hands of a thirteen year old girl was social suicide! But the now fifteen year old Leena had a dramatic leap in improvement, and the garden was looking more and more gorgeous every day, which turned Pester's stomach. It brought back _horrible_ memories to see his former place of employment spring from the ashes. He couldn't let this happen.

"I have to do something about this…" Pester rubbed his chin in thought. "That little party all the idiots in the Village are throwing for her will be the perfect time to strike…" Pester let an enormous smirk cross his masked face. "Leena might be an 'amazing' gardener, but she's still as fragile as fine china! I could break her easily… and I know just how to do it!" Pester threw his head back and let out an evil laugh for the ages. "Ruffians! Bring me my whiteboard! I need to outline a plan… and you're going to help me!"


	2. Happy Birthday, Leena

"Seedos, I've been walking blindly for almost ten minutes!" Leena tugged at the back of her blindfold, frowning intensely. "How far away is the thing you want to show me?"

"Don't take your blindfold off yet, Leena!" Seedos scolded, gently removing Leena's hand from the knot. "We're almost there. Trust me; it's going to be worth it." Seedos draped an arm across Leena's shoulders and guided her inside the lavishly decorated P-Factor building. Good thing Leafos called to tell Seedos to blindfold Leena; if she saw the giant banner that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEENA!" hanging over the door it would be a dead giveaway.

Seedos heard hushed voices as he approached the big door to the P-Factor hall. He gave the door three firm knocks and everyone shut up with the _click!_ of a light shutting off. After waiting a few seconds, he pushed open the giant doors and led Leena inside.

"Okay, Leena, we're here! Are you ready?" Seedos began to undo the knot on Leena's blindfold.

"I'm kind of scared… it's dark in here…" Leena shuddered.

"Don't be!" Seedos finally pulled Leena's blindfold off.

The lights flicked back on and everyone yelled "SURPRISE!"

Leena almost had a heart attack, staggering back, her eyes wide with shock.

"Happy birthday, Leena!" Seedos grinned hugely at her and she turned bright red.

"You guys did all this for _me…?"_ Leena touched her chest, an expression of disbelief on her face. Everyone in the Village was right in front of her, beaming bright as the sun. There was a giant pile of presents on an enormous table as well as the most extravagant birthday cake Leena had ever seen.

"Only the best for one of our favorite gardeners!" Eddie approached Leena and pulled her into a hug. "We're all so proud of you!"

"Happy sixteenth, Leena," Jardiniero adjusted the cheesy, pointy party hat on top of his head. "What an age! You know, when I was your age, I-"

Leafos leaned over and covered her father's mouth. "Now's not the time, Dad," she giggled nervously. "Enjoy your party, Leena! You deserve it!"

"Thank you _so_ much, everyone!" Leena's eyes glimmered like she was about to cry. She sniffled and wiped one of her eyes. "I'm so glad you're all here. I wasn't so sure Piñata Island was the right place for me before, but now… now I'm definitely sure."

A few minutes later, Seedos watched Leena as she spoke enthusiastically to Avalon about gardening. Leena's completely genuine smile was striking, to say the least. The new confidence she carried herself with did wonders for her, too. As Leena threw her head back to laugh with Avalon, Seedos felt a… strange sensation in his heart.

Seedos had met Leena almost three years ago when she came to the Island as a fumbling, awkward little adolescent. Now she was all grown up and amazingly skilled, and she probably wouldn't have gotten where she was today without the support of her friends… and Seedos supported her more than anyone else. He always gave her advice about her plants, gave her just what she needed to attract piñatas, and even helped her with watering and weeding when he could. Seeing how far she came was absolutely amazing. Leena seemed like a completely different girl…

Seedos grew pale and his heart felt even stabbier. His knees began to knock and sweat poured down his face, all of his blood rushing to his cheeks.

Seedos knew. He knew as he watched Leena exude pure confidence and happiness.

He never thought it would happen, but it finally did.

Seedos was completely and utterly in love.

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"Isn't Leena something?" Eddie had sat down next to Seedos about an hour into the party, a giant glimmering grin on his face. Seedos was struggling to swallow his orange juice, barely able to speak, let alone drink something. Ever since his feelings for Leena hit him like a bullet train, he had been feeling really, really strange. He had no idea how he managed to last this long without a complete mental breakdown… time seemed like it was going slow as molasses. "I bet you're prouder than anyone, eh, Seedos?" Eddie cheekily winked at Seedos and Seedos burst into the reddest blush Eddie had ever seen. Eddie kind of wanted to take a picture; it was such an inspirational scarlet color!

Eddie resisted the urge to snap a picture with his Alert System. "Seedos, what's with that look?" he tilted his head questioningly.

"I… I…" Seedos bit his lip, feeling sweat pour down his back, soaking his T-shirt. God, he must look _awful…_

_Something really is wrong with me…_ Seedos realized with horror. _I __**never**__ care about how I look!_

"You're blushing and sweating…" Eddie leaned in to examine Seedos' mask. Seedos could have sworn he saw a lightbulb turn on over Eddie's head as he finally realized something. "Seedos…" Eddie smirked, leaning back and folding his arms. "Is it possible that little miss Leena is the cause of your current state?"

Seedos made a noise like a Squazzil being strangled. Eddie read him like a book! Seedos fought the urge to punch Eddie right in his smug face, instead clenching his fists and looking down at his feet.

"Don't tell anyone…" Seedos shook his head, his voice hushed. His head began to throb with an oncoming headache. The loud music echoing off the walls of the P-Factor Hall wasn't helping Seedos in the slightest. "I'm not ready to tell Leena… but I just realized that I feel something for her."

"I won't tell anyone… but seriously, Seedos…" Eddie gave Seedos a light punch on the arm. "It's about time! You only kept her waiting for _three years!"_ Eddie tsk-tsked, shaking his purple head. "I can't believe you danced around romance for so long. Don't you know it's not nice to keep a lady waiting?"

"I wasn't in love with her before today!" Seedos said, just a bit too loud. Once he realized how loud he was, he looked around quickly to make sure no one heard him.

_Good, the coast is clear._ Seedos breathed an enormous side of relief.

"Take my advice, Seedos," Eddie's expression became terribly serious. "Tell Leena as soon as possible. Three years is a long time to wait, even for a hopeless romantic like me. You wouldn't want her interests to wander, would you?" Eddie touched his chin, sticking his lower lip out in thought. "Mmm, with how talented she is at gardening, she's bound to have all kinds of suitors knocking down her door…"

Seedos felt like an arrow pierced his heart. Leena… with another guy? No. No. _Please no._

"I'll do my best!" Seedos rested a hand on his heart, a look of determination on his face.

"Good!" Eddie's sunny, happy expression returned. "Psyche yourself up! If you could confess to her before the end of the party, you'd make this her best birthday ever!"

Seedos opened his mouth to ask exactly how one goes about confessing their love, but a fast, upbeat country song began to blast from the speakers and Eddie excitedly bounced out of his seat.

"Oooh, the Cotton-Eyed Joe! Time for me to tear up the dance floor! Good luck, Seedos!" Eddie winked at Seedos before running to the dance floor to join the line dancing crowd.

Seedos his aching head down on the table. He _wanted_ to confess to Leena, that was for sure, but… it had been more than a _decade_ since he even entertained the thought of loving a girl! How the heck do people confess…? Did he just grab her hands and yell "I LOVE YOU!" in her face? Did he have to put on an extravagant display in front of everyone? Give her flowers? Open a bottle of that _cham-pagan_ stuff? Ugh, it was all so complicated… Seedos hoped he could come up with something, and soon!

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"Are you sure you don't need anything hunted?" One of the hands of Gretchen's scarf lifted up Leena's chin so the much shorter girl was looking right into Gretchen's swirling eyes. "I'd be honored to catch piñatas for that amazing garden of yours. You like Hootyfruities, don't you? I'll catch you two; one can be for free." A smile crossed Gretchen's perfectly shaped mouth.

"That would be nice, actually…" Leena smiled back, blushing a bit. She was always intimidated by Gretchen, but not in a bad way. Leena found Gretchen positively stunning, but being around her always made Leena a bit self-conscious. "You know what, I-" Leena was interrupted by her Alert System loudly ringing. Her ringtone was a bubbly pop song by the popular Piñata Island singer Polly Peppermint.

"Who could be calling you _now?"_ Gretchen raised a brow. "Everyone in the Village is at this party…"

"You're right… hmm, I wonder…" Leena pulled her Alert System out of her pocket, turned it on, and held it against her ear. "Hello?"

"Hiiiii~!" A familiar, excited voice sang from the other end of the line.

"Alyssa?!" Leena's face burst into a happy grin at the sound of that voice. "What's up? Why are you Alert-er, calling me?"

"What, I can't wish my favorite little sister a happy birthday?" Alyssa's voice was pouting. "This is your big day, Lee! You're _sixteen!_ Oh, you must have grown up so much… I feel old…" Leena imagined Alyssa dabbing her eyes with her lacy handkerchief. "How are things at Piñata Island?"

"Oh, it's so wonderful…!" Leena gushed, placing her free hand over her heart. "My garden's become absolutely gorgeous and I'm at a big surprise party that everyone is throwing for me! Everyone here is so nice…"

"Ahhh, I'm so jealous! It sounds like such a nice community…" Alyssa sighed wistfully. "I won't keep you if you're at your party, then, but I called to tell you some big news!"

"Big news?" Leena blinked, placing a finger on her chin. "What big news?"

"Me, Renee, and Mom and Dad are all coming to visit in two days~!" Alyssa giggled. "Sorry to spring it on you like this, but we wanted to come see you now that you're all grown up!"

"What?! Really?!" Leena bounced up and down excitedly. "That's so awesome! I miss all of you so much! I can't believe Mom's coming too…"

"Yeah, she won't admit it, but I think she misses you most of all…" Alyssa chuckled. "She certainly didn't expect her youngest daughter to leave the nest first!"

"I'll get ready for you guys' arrival," Leena beamed. "I hope you have an awesome day, sis!"

"You too, birthday girl!" Alyssa said. "See you in two days!" With that, she hung up.

Leena grinned ear to ear as she pushed her Alert System back into her pocket. She had to tell someone_, anyone,_ the big news! Leaving Gretchen behind, Leena ran towards Seedos, who was still sitting alone at a table, agonizing over how he'd confess his feelings to Leena.

"Seedos! Seedos!" Leena leaned over and gave him an enormous, tight hug. Seedos felt warmth flood his whole entire body and his beige mask turned a bright shade of scarlet.

"Wh-wh-what is it, Leena?" he spluttered, completely frozen.

Leena let Seedos go and smiled into his eyes. "My whole entire family's coming to visit! You're gonna get to meet my parents and my sisters!"

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The news of her family's visit made Leena ridiculously happy. Her shyness completely melted away and she skipped around the party, making conversation with everyone she could. She chatted with Sahari about Pieenas, giggled with Fannie about boys, and even had a (rather one-sided) conversation with Petula about popular Piñata Island TV shows. She opened all her presents and was absolutely delighted with every single one of them. She mostly received gardening essentials, including a new, expensive watering can from Avalon.

"I even autographed it!" Avalon winked at Leena. "'Oo knows? Maybe it'll be worth something someday."

"I wouldn't sell this for a million CC!" Leena hugged the watering can like it was her baby, smiling broadly. "Thanks, Avalon! This means a lot. I'll take good care of it!"

Seedos gave Leena one of each kind of seed, all neatly arranged along the bottom of a fancily wrapped box.

"I'll grow them up big and strong!" Leena beamed at Seedos, who turned bright red again. "You can visit them whenever you want, okay?"

"Oh-okay…" Seedos grinned like a goof at Leena, which got a bunch of the partygoers excitedly whispering.

"Look how red his face is…!" Storkos whispered to Maxime, who snickered until she snorted.

"I'll never understand Leena's taste in men, but…" Maxime shook her head. "It's about damn time. Good for them!"

Storkos made a mental note to push Seedos to confess his feelings later on. She didn't think she ever saw her little brother blush so hard!

Leena also received a baby Geckie from Eddie. It was varianted bright pink and had an extravagant bow around its neck.

Leena gasped when she looked inside the bag and it poked its little head out. "Oh, it's so cute!" Leena covered her mouth in shock. "Thank you, Eddie! Wow…"

"She's my Ari's first baby!" Eddie sniffled, wiping his eyes. "She just hatched yesterday, just in time for your party! I'm sure she'll have a wonderful home with you."

Leena finished opening her gifts with her new Geckie resting on her shoulder. Once she was all set, it was time for the cake. The cake was _humongous,_ there was no way everyone could finish it! It seemed like it was bigger than Leena was… Leena wondered who made it. There were no bakers in the Village, after all.

Leena took her first bite of the cake. Her eyes widened and a grin spread across her face. This was the most delicious cake she had ever eaten! She began to ravenously gobble it up. It wasn't ladylike, but she didn't care! The fluffy texture… the delicious frosting… it created a symphony of flavor! Maybe she could finish the whole cake all by herself… Piñata Islanders sure knew how to make sweets!

"Hey, uh… Leena?" Leena heard a familiar voice from behind her. Leena turned in her chair to see Seedos, who was fiddling with his hands and looking down at his feet.

"Mwhaf?" Leena attempted to say "what" with a mouth full of cake. It didn't work out too well.

"There's something I need to-"

"Hey, Leena!" Eddie waved her over. "Dad wants everyone to get a photo with the birthday girl so he can hang it on the wall!" Eddie gestured to a wall that was completely covered with framed photographs of the various events the P-Factor Hall had hosted throughout the years. "I think it would be a lovely addition! You're one of the prides of the town now, after all!" Eddie winked and all the party guests began to exclaim in agreement.

"Oooh, okay!" Leena giggled and grabbed Seedos by the hand. "Come on, let's go take a picture!"

"All right…" Seedos sighed a bit as Leena pulled him over to the crowd. Great, he completely lost his nerve again. There was no way he'd be able to confess his feelings to Leena before the party was over…

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**Meanwhile, in a gloomy dark tree…**

"I can't believe this…" Dastardos' lower lip trembled as he looked down at Magnar. He had never seen his piñata companion look so small and pale before. Magnar was barely moving, his breathing ragged and his eyes half closed.

"It's okay… Stardos…" Magnar squeaked, barely able to form words. "I won't die… you need me…"

"Me needing you isn't enough to save your life!" Dastardos shook his head, reaching out to place a hand between Magnar's papery ears. "You need life candy… and hardly any piñata have been getting sick since stupid Patch hired _Leafos_ to help him out…" Dastardos cradled his head in his hands. "She's way too efficient. He's almost _never_ late!"

"Maybe… maybe…" Magnar attempted to lift his head to look at Dastardos, but he failed and his chin bumped down against the bed. "Maybe soon… you'll get lucky…"

"I wish, Magnar…" Dastardos sat next to his ailing companion, frowning intensely, his brow knitted together. "I wish."

Suddenly, Dastardos' Alert System began to ring loudly. Dastardos groaned and pressed it against his ear. "What, Pester? I'm not in the mood for your shit right now!"

"Oh, don't be so whiny!" Professor Pester heaved a sigh. "If you keep this up, I won't tell you my super amazing magical news!"

It was Dastardos' turn to sigh. "What the hell could you possibly have to tell me? I'm busy."

"Busy doing what? Lying around being lazy?" Professor Pester hmmphed. "Nothing's more important than the news I have for you! It concerns that dumb little piñata of yours!"

"…what is it?" Dastardos was interested now, but he was doing his best to be nonchalant. Pester _couldn't_ know just how much Magnar meant to Dastardos. If Pester ever threatened to kill Magnar, Dastardos would have to do whatever he asked… the idea of Professor Pester having that kind of power over him turned his stomach.

"I'm about to unleash a spot of chaos!" Dastardos could tell that Pester was wearing the slimiest grin on Earth just by the tone of his voice. "Let's just say it will result in quite a few sick piñatas for your little parasite!"

"My little parasite will be very pleased…" Dastardos heaved a sigh of relief. "So am I. What about Patch, though?"

"Everyone in the Village is at a silly party for that idiot girl _Leena,"_ Pester spat her name like it was venom. "Patch is also attending. No one's around to call him or his voluptuous assistant, so I'm good as gold!" Professor Pester let out a great, echoing evil laugh that made Dastardos' eardrums throb.

"Whose garden is it, though?" Dastardos asked, scratching his shaggy silver hair.

"That's not important; what _is_ important is that you'll be getting candy for Magnar and I'll get to exact a bit of revenge!" Professor Pester couldn't let Dastardos know that it was Leena's garden… she was Seedos' little girlfriend, after all. Seedos and Dastardos were _sickeningly_ close, which irritated Pester to no end.; Dastardos would probably have a thing or two to say to Pester about wrecking Leena's garden.

_My minion's going soft…_ Professor Pester shook his head. _He needs a serious reality check. He's a VILLAIN, not a grandmother on a Sunday morning shopping expedition!_

"All right, I'll take your word for it… please hurry, though. Magnar's not doing so well…" Dastardos bit his lip as he looked over at Magnar, who had shut his eyes and was drifting off into sleep… or unconsciousness. Dastardos _really _hoped it was the former.

"You can't rush perfect chaos, Dastardos!" Pester cackled. "I'll Alert you when everything's good and ready." With that, Professor Pester hung up.

Dastardos laid back on the bed, sighing heavily. Hopefully whatever Pester was doing would be worth it…

"If Magnar can live another day…" Dastardos placed his hand on his little piñata's back, feeling relief flood his heart when he felt that Magnar was breathing. "…then it will be worth it."

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP VPVPVPVPVP_

"All right, Ruffians, are you ready to roll?" Pester grinned at his four minions, resting his oversized bat on his shoulder. The Ruffians gibbered in reply and Pester took that as a good sign. "Don't start with the carnage just yet; let's take a look at the garden and come up with the most stylish way to wreck it!" Professor Pester stood on his tippy toes, shielding his eyes from the harsh Island sun.

He surveyed the garden, feeling his stomach turn. "Ugh, you know what? Let's not even bother to wreck this stylishly. Have at it, Ruffians!" With a sweeping gesture of Pester's arm, the Ruffians went to town, smashing everything they could get their bats on. Leena's plants were crushed, her piñata houses were reduced to splinters, and every piñata that attempted to stop the Ruffians got flattened.

"Now, where's that pesky Squazzil of hers…" Professor Pester reached into his pocket as he searched around the garden. He saw a flash of light green up Leena's enormous oak tree and grinned. Crispy was clinging to a top branch, obviously confused about what was going on, but not smart enough to fully contemplate how severe the situation was.

"Hey, little Squazzil!" Professor Pester sang out with false sweetness, waving around a piece of sour candy he had retrieved from his pocket. "I have a treat for you!"

Crispy tilted her head to the side, her oversized eyes resting on the sour sweet. She scuttled down the tree, held out her paws, and took the sweet from Pester.

"There's a good girl!" Professor Pester gushed as Crispy leapt from the tree. "Ruffians! Don't touch this one! I want it to… fade away," Pester winked cheekily at his minions, who saluted and resumed beating on a hapless Hootyfruity.

Crispy ate the sour sweet, choked, and fell over in a heap, the color rapidly draining from her paper.

Professor Pester chuckled and kicked Crispy aside with his boot. He headed over to a destroyed piñata house, grabbed a large plank of wood, and pulled a thick black marker out of his pocket.

"I think I'll leave a little message for the woman of the hour…" he snickered to no one in particular. He wrote "HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEENA!" on the plank of wood in thick, bold letters, drawing a little smiley face underneath it. He laid the plank against Leena's oak tree and wiped a tear from his eye as he surveyed the destruction.

Leena's garden didn't even look like a garden anymore. The ground was littered with rubble, dead plants, and bits of smashed piñatas. The Ruffians had uprooted most of the grass and thrown dirt everywhere, filling up Leena's formerly pristine pond. There wasn't a single piñata left that wasn't sick. All in all, it was the most beautiful destruction Professor Pester had seen in a long time.

"This might be the second most diabolical thing I've ever done…" Professor Pester blew his nose on his shirt, tears flowing freely down his mask. "Great work, Ruffians!"

The mohawked Ruffian gave Pester a thumbs up before starting to gather up the candy. Professor Pester took a step back to admire his handiwork. Leena was going to come back to her "garden" and be completely _crushed!_ There was _no way_ she would be able to recover from this!

Professor Pester pulled out his Alert System and pressed it against his ear. "Okay, Dastardos, you can come out now!"

"Ugh…what is it…?" Professor Pester saw the curtains in front of Dastardos' house part. Dastardos stuck his masked face out and his jaw dropped when he saw the garden in front of him. Dastardos zoomed over to Pester, spluttering like Patch in the presence of a woman. "Wh-wh-what did you do to Leena's garden…?!"

"Oh, it was _sickening…"_ Professor Pester scoffed. "She was getting far too good. Don't even complain, Dastardos, the damage is already done!"

"I… can see that…" Dastardos staggered backwards, his eyes wide with shock. "Everyone is going to hate you for this, you know!"

"Wonderful! As if they didn't hate me already…" Professor Pester giggled like a psychotic schoolgirl. "By the way, Dastardos, I left you a little present!" Professor Pester nodded in the ailing Crispy's direction. "Have at it!" With that, Pester turned on his heel and made a break for his hideout, his Ruffians right behind him with their arms full of candy.

Dastardos gazed at Crispy, not even contemplating the fact that she was Leena's most beloved piñata. All he saw was prey, a piñata he could use to keep Magnar alive! Dastardos didn't care about what Leena would think. It was either her piñata or his. Life without Magnar… Dastardos couldn't imagine it without getting chills. Without Magnar, his work would lose all meaning. He wouldn't have anything to go home to after a hard day of dealing with Professor Pester. He wouldn't have anyone to spill his troubles to when problems were weighing on his mind. Dastardos didn't kill for the fun of it. He didn't kill because it was his job. He killed because it kept Magnar alive. Without Magnar… Dastardos wouldn't be human anymore. He'd become nothing but an emotionless spirit, floating through life without purpose. He had to do this.

Dastardos started up his song, floating over to Crispy slowly, his heart drumming in his chest.

He barely heard the cheerful voices in the distance as he closed in on the piñata.


	3. The Chase

Leena screamed and ran as fast as her skinny legs could carry her. Right now, she didn't care that her garden was smashed. She didn't care that all her hard work was ruined. All she cared about was Dastardos, who was closing in on Crispy _fast!_

Seedos and Leafos, who had been walking Leena back to her garden, stared at the destruction, their eyes wide and their jaws slack. Who could do such a thing, and on Leena's birthday, too?!

Seedos' eyes trailed off the destruction and landed on Dastardos. Seedos felt his heart completely freeze and his hands clenched into fists. He knew he should run forward and give Dastardos a piece of his mind, but he was too terrified to move. When Dastardos was in reaping mode, he was impossible to reason with. If Seedos ticked Dastardos off and made him smash Crispy, Seedos would feel guilty forever. He couldn't take that risk!

"I-I'm calling Patch!" Leafos exclaimed, her voice panicked. She grabbed her Alert System and attempted to dial Patch's number, but her shaky fingers kept slipping.

Leena nearly tripped over a piece of rubble, but she managed to grab Crispy right out from under Dastardos. He struck anyway, his stick hitting nothing but dirt. Dastardos raised his head, his eyes wild with rage, and hissed: "Give her to me! I _need_ her!"

"NO!" Leena exclaimed, hugging the ailing Crispy to her chest. Leena turned on her heel and made a break for the Village, her heart pounding like it was ready to burst right out of her.

Dastardos growled and took off after her as fast as he could, Whacking Stick at the ready. He wasn't letting Leena get away! Without Crispy's life sweet, Magnar would die for sure!

Seedos attempted to grab Dastardos when he flew by, but Seedos wound up plunging his hand into Dastardos' back.

After the initial shock of Dastardos' sudden ambush, Seedos began to run after Dastardos. He wasn't going to get away with this! Seedos didn't care that Dastardos was his brother; he was acting like a complete monster! Seedos wasn't going to let Dastardos get off easy. If he hurt Leena there would be _hell_ to pay!

Leena ran into the town, gripping Crispy as tightly as she could without hurting her. A stitch ached in her rib and sweat was pouring down her face, but she didn't care. Her first priority was to keep Crispy safe!

"I can't believe this…" Dastardos growled under his breath as he floated after Leena, hot on her heels. "Just give up the Squazzil!"

"NO!" Leena sobbed, picking up the pace.

The two of them were fast approaching the Village Square. Everyone was heading home after the party, but they stopped dead in their tracks to gawk at the chase that was rapidly approaching the Village.

Dastardos didn't care that there were so many people watching. When he finally caught up, it would prove to everyone that he was a man to be feared. Leena was going even faster now… Dastardos would have to fight dirty.

Dastardos moved a bit closer to her and his scarves suddenly lashed out, wrapping around Leena's ankles. Leena let out a surprised cry and toppled forward, Crispy flying out of her arms and skidding along the Village road.

Seedos stopped in his tracks and gaped as Dastardos closed in on the Squazzil. Everyone in the Village watched in fear, not one of them coming forward to help Leena. They were too afraid of what would happen if they got between Dastardos and his precious prey.

"DON'T!" Leena cried out, reaching forward with tears streaming down her face. Her efforts were in vain; it was too late.

With a loud _crack!_ Dastardos' stick met Crispy. She burst in a flurry of green confetti, parts of her body flying everywhere. One of Crispy's eyeballs rolled over to Leena, tapping her on the hand. The crowd gasped and began grumbling angrily amongst themselves. Eddie threw himself into Maxime's arms and began to loudly sob. His sobs were nothing compared to Leena's, though.

"I hope you're happy!" Leena threw Crispy's eye at Dastardos, tears streaking down her reddened face. Dastardos barely winced when the eye bounced off of his back. He hummed to himself as he rooted around in Crispy's remains for her life sweet.

"I am!" Dastardos flipped Crispy's life sweet up in the air and caught it, winking lewdly at Leena. "That's why you don't mess with me, _kid._ I _always_ win." With that, Dastardos turned around, flipped his scarf, and began to head home. Magnar would be so happy when he heard about Dastardos' victory! Dastardos kept his head high and his posture confident, imagining Magnar's joyous face.

Dastardos' happy fog was broken when he found himself staring into a pair of violet eyes. "…what? People are looking…" Dastardos hissed through clenched teeth. Seedos didn't care, though. Seedos grabbed Dastardos by his sweater and leaned forward until their noses were touching.

"Later on you and I are going to have a _serious_ talk about what you did," Seedos growled right into Dastardos' face. With that, he roughly let his brother go and rushed over to Leena.

"Hmph, whatever," Dastardos deposited the life sweet in his pocket and continued to head home. He didn't care that Seedos was mad at him; they'd probably make up after Seedos heard about Magnar's condition… right?

_I really should hurry home…_ Dastardos thought, running his fingers over the life sweet in his pocket. _Magnar's waiting for me!_ With that, Dastardos double timed it, floating back to his tree as fast as he could.

Tears flowed off of Leena's cheeks and splattered onto the ground. She was on her hands and knees over Crispy's remains, her heart heavy. Her best friend was just killed right in front of her by that cold-hearted reaper… she couldn't believe this was happening.

Leena realized with horror that Crispy wasn't the only thing she lost today. Her garden was in absolute shambles when she came back to it earlier. _Was that Dastardos' fault too?_

Leena shifted around so she was kneeling and buried her mask in her hands, sobbing loudly. Seedos sidled up to her and put his arm around her shoulders. Leena continued to weep, completely numb to Seedos' affectionate gesture.

Everyone in town went silent, sadness hanging in the air. No one was quite sure what to say or do; they just shifted around in discomfort or looked down at their feet, feeling awful for poor Leena and Crispy.

"Don't worry, Leena…" Seedos whispered, rubbing her heaving shoulder. "I'm going to make Dastardos pay for what he did to Crispy…"

"I… I…" Leena took a moment to sob before turning her red, tearful eyes towards Seedos. "I don't want you to take a risk like that! What if something happened to _you?_ I've lost _everything;_ I don't want to lose you too!" With that, Leena threw herself into Seedos' arms and began to cry even harder, soaking Seedos' shirt. Seedos chastised himself for thinking so, but he was quite happy that Leena was so worried about him…

Suddenly, Patch came scrambling into the Village Square, his sweaty bangs plastered to his forehead and a med kit in his hand. When he saw Crispy's scattered remains and the crying Leena, he skidded to a stop and dropped his med kit in shock.

"Suh-sorry! I'm so sorry! There was a sick Walrusk and it wuh-wouldn't take its medicine… and Luh-Leafos didn't have her medical suh-stuff-" Patch scrambled to save himself from blame, breathing heavily from nerves, his face reddening.

"It's too late…" Leena shook her head, burying her face in Seedos' shoulder. "It's too late…" she repeated, trailing off into sobs. "Crispy's _dead_ because of that _bastard_ Dastardos!"

Seedos winced. He never heard Leena curse before; it sounded unnatural coming out of her mouth... but she was completely right.

_I can't believe I ever trusted that asshole…_ Seedos held Leena closer, fighting off his own tears. _Dastardos is nothing like the person he used to be. He's completely heartless… he doesn't even care that he made Leena so upset!_

Yen looked around at the crowd, one of his brows rising when he noticed that a certain someone wasn't there. "…hey, where's Avalon? If she was around, Dastardos would have _never_ gotten away with that." He folded his arms and nodded a bit, a smirk crossing his face as he imagined Avalon screaming at Dastardos. After Avalon heard what happened today, she would _never_ want to even _look_ at the reaper again! Yen was sad for Leena and all, but he couldn't help but be happy that things were working out in his favor.

"…you're right," Gretchen slammed a fist into her palm. "I'll go find her. She has a Dastardos shovel, doesn't she?" Gretchen asked. Yen nodded in affirmation. "Good. Maybe she can knock some sense into Dastardos…" Gretchen furrowed her brow, looking over at the crestfallen Leena. "…what do you think, kiddo? Should I go get her?"

Leena raised her head and nodded at Gretchen. "Y… yes. I know Avalon can take him… Dastardos deserves whatever he gets…" Leena moved out of Seedos' arms and picked up a fragment of Crispy's shell, holding it against her chest. "I wish I were strong enough to take him on myself… I've got nothing else to lose…"

That was the final straw.

Seedos rose to his feet, scowling at the thought of his idiot brother. He couldn't _believe_ how much Dastardos hurt Leena. One way or another, he was going to make Dastardos pay for what he did. Seedos wasn't going to react with violence; he knew that was suicide when dealing with Dastardos. No, Seedos was going to tell Dastardos a thing or two, and not sugarcoat his words in the _slightest._

"Leena, I'm sorry, but I need to go," Seedos fished in his pocket and pulled out a rumpled tissue he kept around in case of sudden nosebleeds. He thrust it towards Leena and she accepted it gratefully, dabbing her tearful eyes.

"O… okay…" Leena sniffled. "But… will I see you later?" She had no idea where Seedos was going, but it _had_ to be important. There was no way he'd leave her in this condition unless he had to do something drastic…

"Of course you will," Seedos bent down to hug Leena goodbye, feeling his heart speed up tenfold. Leena needed all the support she could get… he'd do his best to cheer her up once he was done with Dastardos. "Feel better…" Seedos whispered, although he knew it was futile. With that, he stood up, shoved his hands in his pockets, and headed down the Village road like a man on a mission.

Leena sighed and began to gather up the broken pieces of Crispy. Arfur and Bart rushed over and helped her scoop up her piñata's remains.

"I can sell you a piñata coffin!" Lottie suddenly chimed, beaming at Leena. Willy not-so-gently punched his wife's arm, but Leena gave Lottie a tearful, broken smile.

"Actually… I'd like to give her a proper burial…" Leena admitted, fighting back more tears.

"Excellent! Hold on one moment…" With that, Lottie ran into her store excitedly. Piñata murder sure was good for business! Hmm, maybe she could bribe Dastardos to do a little extra killing…

"Leena…" Arfur tried to hide his disgust as he picked up one of Crispy's eyes. "Come to my inn. I'll give you some free hot cocoa. I think it would cheer you up…"

"It's weird not seeing you smile…" Maxime furrowed her brow.

"Tell you what, Leena…" Eddie wiped his tears with a fluffy lavender handkerchief. "I'll buy you the coffin. And I'll deliver the eulogy at Crispy's funeral, free of charge, of course."

Leena sniffled again, feeling like someone stabbed her in the heart. She never thought she'd hear the words "Crispy" and "funeral" in the same sentence. Her best friend… the first piñata who resided in her garden… was _gone._ Crispy would never share Leena's pillow with her again, she'd never raid Leena's peanut jar again, she'd never scamper up the oak tree again, she'd never sneak into Seedos' backpack again, she'd never snuggle Leena again. Crispy wouldn't do _anything_ ever again…

That thought made Leena break down into tears. Eddie began to fuss, "Was it something I said?" he asked Maxime, his brow knitted.

Leafos stepped forward, a somber expression on her face. She looked at Leena and opened her arms. Leena gratefully fell into them, crying on Leafos' shoulder.

"That Dastardos…" Bart shook his head. "If I could afford one of those fancy shovels, I'd smash his head right in."

"Duh-Duh-Dastardos will get what's coming to him," Doctor Patch's expression darkened. "Huh-he's broken suh-so many gardener's hearts… huh-his comeuppance is long overdue."

Everyone in the Village nodded in agreement, a silence falling across all of them. Nothing could be heard apart from Leena's muffled sobs.

For once, every last Villager saw eye-to-eye.

They all wanted Dastardos _gone._

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP_

"Magnar, you have no idea what I went through to get this…" Dastardos let a smile cross his face as he gently placed Crispy's life sweet down in front of Magnar.

"You're the best, Stardos…" Magnar let out a sigh of relief as he began delicately eating the life candy. Dastardos felt his heart sink. Usually Magnar ate with vigor… he really must be feeling rotten. But he'd be all better after this.

"I'm glad I was able to help you…" Dastardos sat down next to Magnar and began to stroke his back. Dastardos noticed that Magnar's fur was looking shinier already. "You're looking better…" Dastardos observed with a smile.

"What would I do without you?" Magnar asked with his mouth full.

Dastardos shook his head. "I don't even want to think about that…"

All of a sudden, Dastardos heard several loud, violent knocks on the outside of his tree. Heaving an enormous sigh, he called out: "What do you _want,_ Pester? I already saw your stupid vandalism!"

"It's not Pester."

Dastardos' brows arched upwards. He knew that voice… what was Seedos doing here?

_He's actually going through with the whole "we need to have a talk" thing?_ Dastardos sighed. He wasn't in the mood to get an earful from his little brother, but there was no way Seedos would leave without getting what he wanted. He could be horrifically stubborn. "Ugh, come in…" Dastardos leaned back on his bed, wearily eyeing the curtains. Seedos shoved them aside, his eyes practically flashing with rage behind his spectacles.

"What's with the face?" Dastardos edged away, narrowing his eyes at Seedos. Seedos sighed in exasperation and planted his hands on his hips.

"I hope you're happy with yourself, you _bastard,"_ Seedos spat, which made Dastardos wince.

"Watch your fucking mouth," Dastardos chastised, which made Seedos roll his eyes. "I only did what I had to. Magnar was _dying,_ Seedos! It was either him or-"

"Don't give me that!" Seedos interrupted, his glasses fogging up. Dastardos noticed with mild disgust that Seedos was sweating bullets. "You could have asked _me_ for help, you idiot! I'd trade seeds to get you Life Sweets if you _asked!"_

Dastardos bit his lip and suddenly took immense interest in the wall. "Well… I…"

"I'm starting to think you _don't_ just do this for Magnar," Seedos folded his arms and squinted at Dastardos. "If it was only about Magnar, you'd have _no_ problem asking someone else for help! I bet you reap because you think it's fun. You think making girls cry is _hilarious,_ don't you?! You ruined the life of a kind, sweet girl who never did _anything_ to you!" Seedos yelled that last part so loudly that Dastardos felt it reverberate through his skull. Seedos took a deep breath and shut his eyes, his voice becoming disturbingly calm and even. "Can I ask you something?"

"Uh-" Dastardos knew Seedos would ask him no matter what he said.

"What if Magnar died?" Seedos asked, his expression unchanging. "How would you feel if Pester killed Magnar? He probably plans to, you know. Get you all nice and cozy and trusting… and when you least expect it…" Seedos mimed swinging a bat and Magnar flinched. "He's gone. Just like that."

Dastardos swept up Magnar as if Seedos planned on breaking him himself. "Pester doesn't want to kill Magnar!" Dastardos tried to erase every hint of doubt from his words, but some snuck in there anyway. Seedos must have noticed, since the corners of his mouth lifted up into an ironic smirk.

"That's what he wants you to think. Now imagine how you would feel if that happened. Awful, right? Leena feels that way right now. You _broke her heart._ You broke her heart for your own benefit," Seedos shook his head, sighing the slightest bit. "I can't believe I ever thought it was a good idea to make up with you. I made a mistake."

"What… what's that supposed to mean?" Dastardos had a hunch, but he didn't want to say it out loud. He clutched Magnar to his chest and looked at Seedos in sheer disbelief.

Seedos raised his head to make eye contact with Dastardos. "I don't _ever_ want to speak to you again. I'm _done_ with you. You're selfish, you're cruel, you're sadistic… you're not my brother. Stardos was understanding and smart…" Seedos seemed a bit wistful as he thought about his brother that once was, but his wistfulness was quickly replaced by rage. "You're stupid, conniving, and a total _jackass._ I _hate_ you, Dastardos. I don't want to see your ugly mask _ever_ again!"

Every word Seedos said was like an arrow in Dastardos' heart. Dastardos couldn't let Seedos know that, of course. Two could play at this rage game…

"Same to you!" Dastardos yelled right back. "You have _no right_ to come barging in my house like this! I can't believe you're mad at me for doing my _job!"_

"Leena is _off limits!"_ Seedos exclaimed, tearing at his hair.

"No one's off limits," Dastardos huffed.

Seedos went quiet and so did Dastardos. After a few moments, Seedos spoke up.

"I bet if it were _Avalon's_ piñata, you wouldn't have killed it…" he grumbled.

Dastardos jumped a bit. "Y-yes I would!" Dastardos exclaimed. "Without a second thought! If… if it kept Magnar alive…"

"You're stuttering," Seedos tilted his head, frowning intensely. "You really _do_ play favorites… so, an innocent little girl is an acceptable target, but Avalon isn't? How would _she_ feel if she heard what you did?!"

"…leave!" Dastardos pointed at the door, his scarves hissing.

"Fine," Seedos turned around and headed for the door, spitting onto the dirt. "Oh, and by the way…" Seedos turned around, his hand on the doorframe. "…If you pull _anything_ like this again, I'll spill your secret to _everyone."_

"You wouldn't!" Dastardos yelled, fear overtaking him. He reached over to grab The Whacking Stick, but before he could use it, Seedos was gone.

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Avalon had stuck around the P-Factor Hall after Leena's party to chat with Yoto and Eddie's father. The three of them were none the wiser about what happened in town, blissfully ignorant of Leena's heartbreak.

"I'm so proud of Leena…" Avalon sighed fondly, moving some of her dark hair out of her face. "She's come so far and she's so confident now… I never would have dreamed she could achieve such great heights!"

"She had the best mentor _ever,"_ Yoto winked at Avalon and Edward nodded in agreement.

"Oh, come on, I'm not the best one _ever…"_ Avalon didn't sound like she meant that.

All of a sudden, the two enormous doors to the hall slammed open and the three jumped and whipped around to look. Gretchen was standing in the doorway, her chest heaving, having rushed over to the P-Factor Hall at top speed.

"Avalon…" Despite how heavily she was breathing, Gretchen's voice didn't hold the slightest hint of exhaustion. "Come to the Village _now._ There's something you need to see, but you're not going to like it…"


	4. The World Is Beautiful

"My God…" Avalon covered her mouth with shock as she looked over the destruction of Leena's garden.

"It's a shame, isn't it?" Gretchen shook her head. "I can't believe Pester would do something like this… next time I see him, I'm going to strangle the _life_ out of him." Gretchen's scarves wrung an invisible neck.

"I can't believe I missed this!" Yoto kicked a nearby rock. "If I saw Pester wrecking Leena's garden, I would have kicked his fat ass into next week!" Yoto's eyes fell upon the sign Pester made. "LOOK at what this bastard did! He wrote 'Happy Birthday, Leena" over there!" Yoto stabbed his finger at the sign. "Ugh, I hate him I hate him I hate him!" Yoto tore at his red hair, grinding his teeth.

"That isn't even the half of it…" Gretchen intoned, folding her arms. "You're not going to believe what Dastardos did."

"Dastardos…?" Yoto tilted his head to the side.

"Wh… what about Dastardos?" Avalon did her best to act nonchalant, but her heart sunk right into her stomach. She was hoping and praying that Dastardos wouldn't be involved in this at all… what could he have done?

"He killed Leena's prizewinning Squazzil," Gretchen sighed. "She got sick during the garden's destruction. Dastardos chased Leena into the Village Square and absolutely humiliated her. I'm surprised he didn't hurt her physically. He seemed completely hell-bent on killing that piñata of hers. He broke her poor little heart."

"'E did WOT?!" Avalon shouted, rage boiling up inside her. She no longer felt sad that her new friend did something awful; she was just completely pissed off. She couldn't _believe_ Dastardos had the nerve to kill Crispy and break Leena's fragile little heart! He was going to _get it._ "I need to get my shovel; I'm going to teach 'im a lesson!" Before anyone could stop her, Avalon turned on her heel and took off towards her garden.

"Wait!" Gretchen held out her arm after Avalon, but she was already gone. Gretchen sighed and rubbed her temples. Having to live with all of these crazy, impulsive people was giving her a headache…

"Yeah, Avalon, you kick his ass!" Yoto yelled after her, jumping up and down enthusiastically.

"She's going to get herself killed," Gretchen stared, slack-jawed, as Avalon disappeared into the Village.

"You don't know Avalon like I do, Auntie G," Yoto chuckled, touching a finger to his chin.

Gretchen narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't call me that."

Yoto ignored her. "Avalon will tear out his small intestine and strangle him with it! Oh man, I wish I could watch; that would be _amazing!"_

"I saw what Dastardos is capable of today," Yoto's enthusiasm was sickening Gretchen a bit. "He doesn't hold back when he's trying to earn himself a victory. Avalon is going to get hurt, _badly."_

"Says you," Yoto sniffed. "You wanna bet?"

"No," Gretchen started to walk back to the Village, pausing to look over her shoulder. "I wish I could believe Avalon would come out unscathed. But I have a really bad feeling about this…" With that, Gretchen sauntered back towards her shop.

"Hmph, what does _she_ know?" Yoto said to no one in particular. "Avalon's gonna kick Dastardos' ass so hard he'll never mess with anyone again!" Yoto nodded confidently… when a realization suddenly hit him like a truck.

"Oh man… if she gets hurt, though, Yen will be really upset…" Yoto chewed on his thumbnail. Yoto had no idea if he should tell his brother or not…

_Would I want to know if Storkos was heading into danger…?_ Yoto wondered. _Yes, I would. I'd do whatever I could to take her home safe…_

Yoto decided he would tell Yen. Better safe than sorry, after all… hopefully he wouldn't do anything he'd regret…

Yoto ran towards his house while that thought was still fresh in his mind. He had no doubts that Avalon would come out on top in a fight with Dastardos, but it couldn't hurt to have Yen on standby in case something did happen, right?

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Avalon cooled down a bit when she was on her way to her garden. She didn't change her mind about going after Dastardos, though.

"I'll just give 'im a good, stern talking to…" Avalon hiked her shovel over her shoulder. "'E probably 'as a reason for doing wot 'e did… still, I'm not going to let 'im off easy," Avalon shook her head.

"Are you having boy trouble?" a shrill voice asked. Avalon froze, her head sloooowly turned to look at her Sprinkling. She was standing with her hands folded over her heart, a smile on her round, blue mask. "Is it that Yen guy? Oooh, if you're having trouble with him, I'll take him off your hands!" She giggled and Avalon rolled her eyes.

"Wot does Yen even 'ave to do with…? Yew know wot, Sally, don't go spreading around wot yew just 'eard or yew're _fired,"_ Avalon wasn't in the mood for her Sprinkling's crap. She mimed slashing her own throat and Sally shut up.

"Y-yes, ma'am!" Sally saluted, lifting up her skirt and running off to water some dehydrated bulrushes.

"Good thing I didn't call 'im by name…" Avalon grumbled to herself as she headed back towards Leena's garden. "If that gossipy 'en learned that I 'ave a bone to pick with Dastardos… well, that wouldn't end well."

Avalon briefly wondered if she should have seen if she could make some homemade armor, but she dismissed that thought as ridiculous. Dastardos was her _friend,_ even if she was cross with him right now. Avalon was sure he'd listen to reason and be willing to talk it out.

_Well…_ Avalon thought as she tapped her shovel against her shoulder. _It never 'urts to be prepared._

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Yen swallowed a lump in his throat as he sat, unmoving, in a thick bush near Dastardos' house. Yoto had come running into their house, yelling at the top of his lungs about how Avalon was going to fight Dastardos. All Yen wanted was to stop her, but there was no way someone as weak as he was could stare down Avalon. Besides, he could never say no to her… she was strong and persistent, Yen was _sure _she'd win.

Still… it would be good to stick around in case Avalon needed to be carried home. Yen wasn't going to lie… the prospect of being her savior made him a bit excited.

Yen heard footsteps and he instinctively held his breath. Avalon was coming!

Avalon let out a sigh as she approached Dastardos' twisted tree. She hoped he was home… if he wasn't, she'd have to go in there and wait for him. She hadn't been inside his house before, but judging by the unpleasant smells wafting through those curtains when she got too close, she wanted to spend as little time in there as possible.

"Okay, Avalon…" Avalon mumbled to herself, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "Just _talk_ to 'im. There's no need to make 'im mad…" With that, Avalon headed towards the tree.

Yen was simultaneously disappointed and relieved that Avalon wouldn't be fighting Dastardos. On one hand, their relationship wouldn't be completely destroyed. On the other hand, Avalon would walk out of Dastardos' house in one piece. Still, Yen figured he'd better stick around in case something _did_ happen.

Avalon moved the curtains aside and called out "Dastardos, are you 'ere?"

Dastardos gasped and whispered "HIDE," to Magnar, who promptly skittered under the covers. Dastardos floated off of his bed and poked his head into his sorry excuse for a living room, his eyes widening as soon as he laid eyes on Avalon's shovel.

"Look, I just want to talk," Avalon held up a hand. "I don't want to 'urt yew."

"Yeah, that's what you _want_ me to think, huh?" Dastardos seethed, his scarves writhing as he slithered out of the shadows. "If you just wanted to talk, you wouldn't have come armed!" Dastardos flexed his fingers and the Whacking Stick appeared in his hand.

Avalon's eyes widened with shock and she attempted to calm Dastardos down. Avalon felt her knees begin to shake; Dastardos was surprisingly frightening when he was angry…. "No, Dastardos, I-"

It was too late. Dastardos flew over to her and cracked her in the shoulder, nearly making her drop her shovel. Avalon reacted instinctively, hitting Dastardos in the face with her shovel and creating a huge crack across his twisted mask. Dastardos got knocked backwards and he clutched his throbbing face, his good eye looking up and giving Avalon a stone cold glare.

"Please, Dastardos, we can fix this!" Avalon begged, feeling sweat pour down her back. She was actually getting nervous… she had never seen such sheer hatred and anger in Dastardos' eyes. She thought she was his friend! "I'm your _friend._ Believe me…"

"You want me gone just like everyone else!" Dastardos roared, thick, viscous black blood dribbling from under his mask and down his neck. "You can't fool me! Avalon, I can't believe you're betraying me like this! I just want to be left alone! All of you idiots are out to get me; the Village probably sent you to kill me!" Dastardos darted forward and lashed out at Avalon, his staff connecting with Avalon's ribs. Avalon felt a few of them shatter and she sucked in an enormous gasp, nearly falling over.

"Yew… yew…" Avalon struggled to catch her breath, feeling her heart tremble with nerves. She had a bad feeling about all of this…. "Yew _bastard!_ I should 'ave known yew were a lost cause! Fine, if it's a fight yew want, it's a fight yew'll get!" Avalon raised her shovel and went after Dastardos again, letting out a battle cry. She put her anger about Leena's broken heart into the blow, going after her former friend with all her might. She didn't have time to think; she had to strike Dastardos before he could strike her again! She succeeded and managed to catch Dastardos completely off-guard, hitting him right in the chest.

Meanwhile, Yen had slunk out of the bushes and placed his ear against Dastardos' hollow tree. He heard the sound of strikes as metal met flesh, the hollow sound of Dastardos' staff banging against Avalon's arm, and the noises of exertion and pain from Avalon and Dastardos.

Yen bit his lip and bunched up the fabric of his shirt in his fists. He wanted nothing more than to run into the tree and pull the two of them apart, but he knew that was suicide. He couldn't _believe_ he hoped they would fight. Avalon was getting hurt! Yen hoped with all his heart that Avalon would wind up coming out on top, but Yen could hear her sobbing from inside the tree. Yen had a bad feeling that wouldn't be the case…

Finally spent on energy, Avalon and Dastardos crumpled to the dirt floor. Avalon winced in pain, clutching her broken arm and biting her lip until she tasted blood. The mouth of Dastardos' mask had completely broken off, revealing Dastardos' mouth and his cut up chin. Dastardos coughed and a huge clot of blood poured from his lips and onto the ground.

The two of them laid there in silence, one of them occasionally groaning in pain. Avalon eventually broke the silence, focusing her dark, bleary eyes on Dastardos.

"Hey…" Avalon breathed, gritting her teeth as her broken ribs surged with pain. "I'm… I'm sorry. Truce?" Avalon offered her good hand to Dastardos, who eyed it wearily. Avalon felt her heart sink; was he going to take her hand or not? What would she do if he refused?

After a pause that seemed to last for an eternity, Dastardos finally took her hand, shut his eyes, and muttered "Yeah. Truce…"

Avalon let out a little sigh of relief and brought Dastardos' hand to her mouth. She planted a little kiss on his bony fingers before letting his hand fall to the floor. The formerly heavy silence became peaceful as Avalon and Dastardos drifted into unconsciousness.

After the sounds of the fight ceased, Yen waited a while before he sidled up to the tree and poked his head into Dastardos' living room. He saw Avalon and Dastardos passed out right in front of each other and he exhaled. He crept into Dastardos' house, walking carefully so he wouldn't wake the reaper nor Avalon. Yen began to tiptoe over to the latter, but his morbid curiosity got the better of him and he approached Dastardos instead.

Holding his breath, Yen carefully squatted down and gently placed two fingers against Dastardos' neck. When he got no response, he pressed his fingers down harder. Yen left his fingers there for a good minute before a realization hit him.

_Dastardos had no pulse._

Yen pulled back his hand, doing his best not to gasp… or burst into a victory dance. Was Dastardos… _dead?_ If he wasn't, he was certainly close. He probably had no one coming to help him, either! Hopefully Avalon wouldn't mourn Dastardos' untimely passing… she probably _hated_ him after what just transpired.

Speaking of Avalon… judging by her chest rising and falling, she was very much alive. Yen figured he better get her home as soon as possible.

Yen picked up Avalon with a bit of difficulty, taking great care to make sure he didn't hurt her.

"Don't worry, Avalon…" Yen whispered to her, gently blowing a lock of hair out of her masked face. "You're safe now. I promise I'll take good care of you…"

Yen walked towards the Village, praying to whatever deity would listen for Avalon's safety.

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"Oh my God!" Petula exclaimed as Yen entered the Village Square with the unconscious Avalon. "What happened?!"

Quite a few of the locals were hanging around outside. They had been gossiping about the destruction of Leena's garden and the death of Crispy until Yen happened along, distracting them from their conversations.

"Is she okay?" Leafos asked, clinging to Patch's arm. Both of them looked horribly worried.

"Sh-she duh-doesn't look it…" Patch chewed on his lower lip. "Yuh-Yen… duh-do you need my help taking cuh-care of her?"

Yen shook his head no. "I can do it. But I'll let you know if I do need anything…"

Leafos looked up at Patch, biting her lower lip. He gave her a little half smile in an attempt to reassure her. "Duh-don't worry, Leafos, I-I'm guh-going to check on her anyway…" Patch rubbed the back of his neck, his brow creased in worry. "Avalon looks like she nuh-needs all the help she can get…"

As Yen approached his house, he was greeted by Bart and his twin brother, both of whom looked completely and utterly shocked.

"Gordon Bennett, boy, what happened to Avalon?!" Bart exclaimed, grabbing onto his hat.

"Who did this to her?!" Yoto shouted, his face turning purple with rage. "I'll _kill_ them!"

"Who do you think?" Yen's expression turned grim. "_Dastardos."_

"That stupid son of a bitch!" Yoto kicked the house as hard as he could. "Next time I see him, I'm gonna strangle him with his own intestines!"

"Thank you for that lovely mental image, boy," Bart wrinkled his nose. "I thought Dastardos crossed the line with killing that Squazzil of Leena's… but hurting a woman like this…" Bart took off his hat, his expression solemn. "That crosses the line."

"I'm going to take care of her," Yen looked at Avalon's sleeping face, feeling his heart swell up with love. "I'll make sure she's safe and hopefully she'll heal up well… Uncle Bart, can you go buy a cast for me from Patch?" Yen inquired.

"Of course," Bart nodded. "I'll get you whatever you need for her. Are you sure you're up to the task, Yen? You aren't exactly gifted in the art of socialization!"

"I am," Yen sighed as he headed for the door. Yoto rushed to open it up and hold it open so Yen could carry Avalon inside more easily. "I'd do _anything_ for Avalon. I'll make sure she gets better in my care." With that, Yen headed to his bedroom to lay Avalon to rest.

Yoto and Bart looked at each other.

"I know Yen will take good care of her," Yoto smiled a bit in spite of everything. "He really, really loves her, you know, Uncle Bart."

"Anyone with eyes could see that," Bart snorted. "Still… I hope Dastardos gets his comeuppance for what he did. He deserves the worst. So does Pester, for that matter!"

"If I know Avalon, and I do," Yoto folded his arms. "She didn't go down without a fight. Dastardos is probably lying on the floor of that gross tree of his, slowly bleeding out!"

"Even that's not enough comeuppance, sadly," Bart placed his hat back on his head. "But it's a start. Hopefully fate will give that Dastardos what he deserves."

"I could drink to that…" Yoto nodded sagely.

"Then let's," Bart looked over at the Clinic. "Once I get back from Patch's, let's share a bottle of bourbon and forget about what happened for a while."

"Now you're talkin'," Yoto sighed. His best friend getting hurt was soul-crushingly upsetting… but he knew he could trust Yen to make her better.

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After several hours, Avalon's eyes began to flutter open, her vision blurred and her head spinning. The first thing she noticed was that she wasn't on the cold, hard dirt ground of Dastardos' house anymore; she was on a soft bed with jersey sheets pulled up to her neck. She also felt that her broken arm had been put into place with a sling and she had a cool cloth on her unmasked forehead. Where _was_ she? Who…? How…?

"You're awake…!" A relieved voice said from next to her. Avalon rolled her head to the side to see Yen, who was sitting on a chair right next to the bed, a smile on his masked mouth. "I've been waiting for… quite a while, actually. I'm glad you're okay."

"Wot… 'ow did I get 'ere?" Avalon rubbed an eye with the hand that wasn't hanging over the edge of a sling. "Yen…?"

Yen looked down sheepishly. "I carried you here… I was going for a walk when I heard you fighting that bastard Dastardos. I couldn't just leave you alone with that monster, so I took you back to my house…"

Avalon felt her heart flood with relief. "Oh, good… thank yew."

"N-no problem…" Yen blushed, fiddling with his hands. "Actually… now might not be a good time, but… there's something I've been meaning to give you for _months."_

"I 'ope it's painkillers…" Avalon groaned, rubbing her throbbing ribs.

"Not quite…" Yen reached into one of his deep, dark pockets and produced the little box that contained the necklace from Poprockolis. "I'll get you some of those later… this is just… well, you'll see."

Avalon chuckled a bit. "I'm not really in the condition to open that, Yen…"

"Oh, I'll get it for you!" Yen tore into the package with reckless abandon, excited that Avalon would finally get to see what was inside after all these months!

Avalon watched him intently, raising a dark brow. She couldn't believe Yen went through all this trouble for _her…_ walking into Dastardos' house, especially when he was angry, was _suicide,_ yet Yen took that risk just to rescue her. Avalon would be lying if she said she wasn't pleased.

"Here!" Yen pulled the necklace out of the box, jumped out of his chair, and placed it on Avalon's stomach. Avalon grabbed the necklace with her good hand and held it up to the light, the many different stones glimmering brightly. It looked expensive… like something Avalon would buy for herself. Avalon thought it was absolutely beautiful.

"Yen… I love it, thank yew," Avalon beamed at Yen, who felt his face burst into flames. "Can yew do me a favor?"

"A-anything!" Yen nodded, standing stick straight.

"Could yew fasten this around my neck?" Avalon asked, shifting into a sitting position. Yen agreed, leaning forward and unclasping the necklace before placing it around Avalon's neck.

"There…" Yen smiled as he heard the _click!_ of the necklace chain going into place. "It looks great on you."

"Wait, Yen, stay where yew are…" Avalon placed her hand on Yen's masked cheek.

Yen felt his heart flip-flop. Where he was… that was _really_ close to Avalon's face, mere inches away from it!

"Consider this a thank yew…" Avalon smiled coyly before lifting up Yen's mask and gently pressing her lips against his.

Yen couldn't help himself. Tears began to roll down his cheeks and his lips curled into a smile.

All of his dreams were coming true! Hopefully that rotten Dastardos wouldn't mess with him anymore…

Dastardos was the last person Yen wanted to think of right now. Yen climbed onto the bed and deepened the kiss, closing his eyes.

Everything in the whole entire world was beautiful.


	5. The Visit Begins

Leena slowly chewed her blueberry pancakes, barely tasting them at all. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was an enormous, poofy mess. She twirled the butter around her pancakes, her heart heavy. Yesterday was the worst day ever… her garden got destroyed, Crispy was killed, and Avalon got really hurt. It was no wonder Leena couldn't even get a wink of sleep…

Leena barely resisted the urge to slam her head onto the table repeatedly. She was broken out of her fog by her Alert System ringing over on the counter. Leena rushed over to it, nearly tripping over her own feet, and pressed it against her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, sweetie!" Alyssa's cheerful voice said from the other end. Leena felt her heart sink into her stomach. "Just wanted to let you know that the captain of the boat just said we'll be arriving at Piñata Island in an hour! We can't _wait_ to see that garden of yours! Oh, and Daddy says hi!"

Leena almost fainted right then and there. She had _totally_ forgotten about her family's visit! What would she do when they saw the condition her garden was in…? What would they say when they heard about her failure?! Leena couldn't bring herself to answer her sister.

"Hello? Leena?" Alyssa sounded worried. She let out a little sigh. "Guess your phone is acting up… oh well, I'll see you soon!" With that, Alyssa hung up. The dial tone took over and pounded into Leena's brain like a jackhammer.

She dropped her Alert System, the battery falling out and skittering across the floor. Leena sat down and held her head. Things were just sucking more and more every second…

Leena heard someone moving around outside and the front door to her tree house creaked open a few moments later. "Hey, Leena, I smelled blueberry pancakes, and-oh no, are you okay?" Seedos' unmistakable voice said. Leena just bit her lip and shook her head no, silently thankful that she remembered to put on her mask this morning. Seedos pattered over to her and leaned down so his mask was right in front of Leena's covered face. "Hey… what happened?"

"I _totally_ forgot about my family visiting…" Leena sobbed a bit. "They're going to freak out when they see my garden… they're all going to _hate_ me!"

"Leena, they're your _family!_ They won't hate you!" Seedos sat next to her and tried to grab her hand, but Leena pulled it away before he could.

"I have a hard time believing that when it's coming from _you,_ Seedos," Leena sighed. "No offense."

Seedos pulled an invisible arrow out of his heart. "None taken," he fibbed with a little sniff.

"I wish I could clean my garden up in time… but it's impossible…" Leena finally rose up from her knees, folding her arms and furrowing her brow. "Even with your help, we couldn't salvage it. If only Avalon were around… ugh, I can't _believe_ that Dastardos!" Leena punched the hardwood floor. "I've been thinking about Crispy and Avalon _all night!_ I didn't fall asleep for even a second!"

"I'd punch Dastardos' nose right off if I could," Seedos flexed a nonexistent muscle. Leena giggled in spite of herself. "Hurting Avalon crossed the line. At least Yen will take good care of her…"

"I should visit her later…" Leena attempted to smooth her messy hair, but it didn't help at all. "She probably needs a friend… plus it would help me take my mind off of… _things."_

"When is your family coming?" Seedos rose to his feet, offering Leena a hand. She gratefully took it and let Seedos pull her up.

"In an _hour…"_ Leena tore at her hair. "I wish their boat would sink! _Anything_ to delay their arrival!"

"You don't really wish that," Seedos narrowed his eyes at Leena and she looked at her feet, her cheeks turning a little pink.

"No I don't… but I'm desperate, Seedos! What am I going to do?" Leena's lower lip trembled as she gave Seedos a look so endearing it could stop a bus. Seedos clutched his heart and ground his teeth together in an attempt to regain his bearings.

He slapped himself in the face and shook his head around, finally giving Leena a steady, strong gaze. "I'll tell you what you can do. Go get dressed and we'll do our best to make the garden look better."

"Buh-but-" Leena tried to protest, but Seedos held up a hand to silence her.

"C'mon, Leena, trust me!" Seedos grinned at her. "I know my stuff!"

"Yeah, but we're not miracle workers…" Leena sobbed a little bit.

"No, Leena, no tears!" Seedos commanded, raising his chin. "Less sobbing, more getting dressed! We have some serious work to do! I'll call Leafos," Seedos produced his Alert System, smiling cheekily at Leena. "She'll be a big help too! Go get ready."

"Okay… okay!" Leena was starting to feel a bit better. "I'll do my best!"

"Atta girl!" Seedos clapped her on the shoulder. "That's what I like to hear. I'll meet you in the garden, okay? We'll make Pester regret ever messing with you!"

Leena felt her heart swell with joy as she retreated in her room and changed into a pink and blue gingham dress. She just might succeed… and her family would be happy and proud of her, just like she wanted!

"Seedos is quite a guy…" Leena said to herself as she zipped up the back of her dress. This was going to be one interesting afternoon…

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"It looks even worse than before…" Leafos chewed on the tip of her glove. She, Leena, and Seedos were all standing on the edge of the garden holding shovels.

"Don't say that!" Seedos glared at her. "This. Is. Salvageable!"

"Well, I certainly think you're deluded…" Leafos sighed, shaking her head. "…but it's worth a shot. I want to avoid having a crisis when Leena's family gets here."

"Let's do it!" Seedos thrust his shovel in the air and Leena and Leafos clanged their shovels against it. With that, they got to digging, planting, and watering at a breakneck pace.

"I wonder if I can attract any piñatas before my family gets here…" Leena wondered as she patted the soil around a budding bluebell.

"You've already got a Whirlm!" Seedos pointed his shovel at the little wriggly orange piñata which had curled itself around one of Leena's daisies. "Not much, but it's a start!" The Whirlm seemed quite offended at Seedos' comment and buried its head in the soil, obviously humiliated. Leena's heart went out to the little guy.

"Seedos, can you toss me a buttercup seed?" Leafos called from the other side of the garden. Seedos scampered all the way over to her, depositing the tiny, yellow seed onto his sister's palm. Leafos narrowed her eyes at him. "I said 'toss.'"

"Sorry, I can't throw my seeds around willy-nilly!" Seedos insisted, shaking his head. "They might get hurt!"

"Seeds don't…" Upon seeing Seedos' look of sheer disbelief, Leafos decided it would be better to clam up and keep working. The three of them had a lot of work to do before Leena's family arrived…

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"Hmm…" Doctor Patch said as he examined Avalon's broken arm closely, prodding it in several places. Avalon winced every time he so much as tapped her arm and Yen watched with concern in his dark blue eyes.

"Is she going to be okay, Doctor?" Yen asked, barely resisting the urge to bite his nails. He knew that was a filthy habit; him chomping on his cartilage would probably nauseate a classy lady like Avalon!

Patch finally let Avalon's arm go and turned to Yen, chewing on his lower lip and looking everywhere except in Yen's eyes.

Yen folded his arms and squinted at Patch suspiciously. "What's that face for…?"

"Avalon's arm is… irreparable in its cuh-current state…" Doctor Patch wrung his hands, looking as if this whole thing was his fault.

"Wot?!" Avalon exclaimed, her good hand covering her mouth.

"Th-the buh-best I can do is puh-put her arm in a cast and hope for the best…" Doctor Patch reached into his medical bag and began to search. "Yuh-you never know what will happen… she might make a full recovery!"

"Yes, but she might _not!"_ Yen tore at his red hair. "If she can't use her arm, she can't garden anymore!"

"That's right…" Avalon seemed quite a bit disheartened by that. She wasn't ready to retire yet… she still had so much she wanted to accomplish with her little plot of land! If she couldn't garden, she couldn't enter the P-Factor, she wouldn't have any income, and Leena wouldn't have a person to idolize anymore… who in their right mind would idolize a woman with a gimpy arm?

"Duh-don't count your Cluckles before they hatch!" Doctor Patch chastised as he wrapped up Avalon's throbbing arm. "Guh-give it a few days. It'll be fine… I think."

All of a sudden, Yoto burst into the room with all the grace and elegance of a Limeocerous, carrying a tray of three kinds of tea.

"Hey y'all!" He barked, striding into the room like he owned the place. He dropped the tea tray on a befuddled Yen's lap and turned to Avalon, tilting his head to the side. "Hey, Avvie, howzit goin'?"

"It could be better…" Avalon sighed as Patch finally finished wrapping up her arm. "My arm might be broken… forever."

"No way!" Yoto wasn't having any of that. "There _must_ be a way to fix it!"

"I-I-I just said to luh-let it huh-heal…" Patch adjusted Avalon's cast a bit as he glanced over his shoulder at Yoto. "Th-there's nothing else we can do…"

"Psh, says you!" Yoto snickered at Doc Patch before flying over to Yen's bookshelf. He grabbed _The Art of Transmogrifying _and began to thumb through it, his tongue poking out of his mouth.

"Yoto…" Yen eyed his brother suspiciously over his teacup. "I hope you're not planning to do what I think you're planning to do…"

"Ah-HA!" Yoto pumped a fist in the air, ran out of the room, and came back with a kitchen chair above his head. He plonked it next to Avalon and sat down with the book open in his lap, grabbing Avalon's casted arm and looking it over.

"Oh no…" Patch backed up several paces until he was against the wall.

"Yoto…" Avalon tried to yank her broken arm away, but she could only move it so much. "Yew… yew aren't thinking of tinkering my bones, are yew?"

"You bet your ass I am!" Yoto winked at her as he reviewed the text in his lap. "It seems easy enough… and your arm probably won't explode!"

The idea of Avalon's arm exploding was enough to make Patch almost pass out. He held onto the wall, doing his best not to drop on the floor in a heap.

"Yoto, no…!" Yen put the tea tray on the floor and attempted to yank the book away from Yoto. Yoto held up his hand and made a quick tinkering gesture, a stream of rainbow goop gushing from his palms and hitting Yen right in the eye. Yen collapsed on the floor, blinded by the colors and groaning in pain.

"Sorry, Yen," Yoto looked down at his writhing twin. "But I can't let you meddle with my experimentation!"

"I-it's not a good idea, Yoto!" Patch urged, making no move to run over and take the book away. Yoto gave Patch a long, flat look of disbelief.

"Patch, do you want rainbow eyes too?" Yoto flexed his fingers and Doctor Patch frantically shook his head no. "I thought so. Okay, here goes…"

"Yoto, please-" Avalon tried to protest, but Yoto held up his hand.

"Come on, Avalon, you're my friend!" Yoto's lower lip trembled as he gave Avalon the most pathetic look he could muster. "Don't you trust me?"

"I can't believe yew're playing that card…" Avalon pinched the bridge of her nose. "…fine, Yoto. I do trust yew. Yew've had enough success in the past."

"HELL yes!" Yoto threw his arms in the air. "You won't regret this, Avvie, I _promise!"_ With that little exclamation of excitement, Yoto got to work tinkering the bones in Avalon's arm; sweat beading on his face as he concentrated.

Avalon's arm burned as Yoto worked on it. It wasn't quite as bad as when Dastardos had broken it, but it was still awful. She bit her lip _hard_ in hopes of lessening the pain. She felt a warm hand close over her free one, and she cracked open one eye to see that Yen was attempting to comfort her. She mouthed "Thank you" to him and he blushed beneath the rainbow stains on his mask.

Finally, a bright red light burst out of Yoto's fingertips and Avalon felt life spring back into her arm. Yoto gasped and squooshed his cheeks, grinning like a fool. "I did it! I really really did it! I thought it wouldn't work!"

Avalon was too happy to take Yoto's confession to heart. She held up her casted arm and rotated it, a bit disappointed when she noticed it was still throbbing with pain. "Ow… it still hurts, though…"

"Yeah, it says right here that the bones still need to heal," Yoto tapped the book on his lap. "But but but it'll be all set in a couple days! You'll be right as rain before you know it!"

Yen let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, Avalon, I'm so glad you're safe…"

Doc Patch opened the door to Yen's room and called: "Buh-Bart? You _have_ to come see what Yoto did!" Patch was grinning from ear to ear, hopping around in excitement. He couldn't _wait_ to see Bart's reaction to what Yoto did!

"Oh no, what did he do?!" Bart called back. Yoto heard the telltale thumping of Bart's sandals as he strolled to Yen's room. Bart poked his head in and cocked a brow. "Did you call me in here to see the new paint job on Yen's mask? Clean yourself up, boy, you look like an idiot."

"Th-that's not why I called you here…" Patch twirled his pointer fingers together, looking down at his feet. "Luh-look at Avalon's arm… Yoto fixed it…"

"He did _what?!"_ Bart flew over to Avalon's side, grabbing her arm and looking it over.

"OW! Bart, be careful! It's not fully 'ealed yet!" Avalon swatted him away and he quickly withdrew his hands.

"Gordon Bennett… my nephew actually tinkered something as advanced as _bones?"_ Bart turned to Yoto and gaped. Yoto folded his arms confidently, looking like he could conquer the world.

"Looks like I'm not a waste of oxygen after all, right, Uncle Bart?" Yoto winked at his uncle, who grumbled a bit before saying:

"…fine. You were right and I was wrong, Yoto. I'm _very_ impressed. If you continue to prove yourself like this…" Bart seemed like he was hesitant to continue his sentence, but he took off his hat and bowed his head after a moment's pause. "…I'll happily let you take over the family business when it comes time for me to retire."

"HELL YES!" Yoto threw the book above his head in a fit of joy. It landed on the floor and almost knocked Yen's lamp over on its way down. "Glad you're finally recognizing my talents, Unk!" Yoto gave Bart the tightest side-hug the latter had ever received.

"You're really something, Yoto…" Doc Patch smiled sheepishly at the redheaded youth.

"I'll say…" Avalon gazed at her arm in amazement.

"I owe you one," Yen nodded at his brother, who promptly turned bright red.

"Awww, all of you are way too much!" Yoto waved them off, but he was clearly enjoying the praise. "Maybe I should open up my medical practice… I could put Patch out of business!"

Patch suddenly went very, very pale. Yoto burst into roaring laughter, slapping his knee. "I'm just joking! Geez…"

Yen cleared his throat, moving his hair out of his rainbow mask. "Celebrating is nice and all, but Avalon needs her rest. Can all of you please leave?"

"Fine, spoilsport…" Yoto grumbled, stomping towards the door.

"I'll buy you a drink, boy," Bart put his arm around Yoto's shoulders. "The celebration doesn't have to end here!"

"Wuh-wait, I wanna come too!" Patch scampered off after the two Tinkers.

"Thanks, Yen," Avalon sighed as she repositioned herself so she could be more comfortable. "Your family is 'orribly noisy. I love them to bits, but it's 'ard to relax when they're around…"

"Try living with them…" Yen snickered. He shifted around in his chair a bit. "Um… so…"

"Don't talk anymore, Yen…" Avalon sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "C'mere…"

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP _

"This isn't good enough!" Leena exclaimed as she tore at her puffy hair. Leafos and Seedos exchanged a nervous glance. They didn't want to say it out loud, but they knew Leena was right.

Even though they had been working on the garden nonstop for the past hour, it was still a mess. It had some Whirlms rolling around as well as one Sparrowmint, and only a few flowers were budding from the ground. They didn't have time to use the grass seed packet, so the garden was completely barren apart from a few patches of brown, dried grass. Seedos had laid into the cruel sign Pester had made and it was on the ground in a bunch of wood splinters.

"We did our best, Leena…" Leafos placed a comforting hand on Leena's shoulder, but she knocked it away.

"There's no way we could have worked with that deadline…" Seedos shook his head, offering a hand to Leena. "Come on, Leena. We should head to the docks to meet your family. Let's get this over with."

Leena looked at Seedos' hand for a while before sighing and taking it. "…you're right. We might as well…"

With that, Seedos began leading Leena towards the docks, Leafos following closely behind. Her stomach was in knots; she hoped everything would be okay with poor Leena…

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP _

The docks always made Leafos and Seedos feel strange. The last time they saw their mother, she was waving at them as she and her father sailed off on their adventure. They had avoided the docks the past several years for that reason, so being back there made them feel sick inside. Seedos was there to support Leena, so he did his best to suppress those awful memories.

The boat began to pull in, Alyssa dangerously close to the bow, waving like crazy at Leena. Behind her was Renee, Leena's other sister, and her mother and father. All of them had donned differently colored eyebands for their visit, which admittedly disappointed Leena a bit. She kind of wanted to see what her family would look like in the Island's fancy, traditional masks.

Leena gave a little wave right back at her sister, feeling sweat run down her face. Seedos gripped Leena's hand tightly and whispered "It'll be okay." That made Leena feel a bit better and she smiled gratefully at Seedos.

Leena's mother's eyebrows rose when she saw the boy her daughter was holding hands with. He looked like some kind of freakish monster with those buggy eyes and enormous teeth! Who did he think he was holding the pure, innocent hand of Leena?

_Hmph, I thought I told her to stay away from boys…_ Leena's mom thought with a sniff. _No accounting for taste, I suppose. This is going to be one strenuous trip…_

The boat finally docked and Leena's family came off of it. Leena's sisters barreled towards her and pulled her into an enormous hug, giggling all the while.

"Leena! You've grown up so much!" Renee cupped Leena's cheeks after she broke the hug.

"And who are these… colorful characters?" Alyssa asked, cocking her head at Seedos and Leafos.

"Uh, this is Seedos… my best friend," Leena motioned to Seedos, who blushed and nodded in greeting. "And this is my other friend Leafos. They've been a big help in helping me find my feet here."

"Nice to meet you!" Leafos offered her gloved hand to Leena's mother, who took it and gave her the briefest handshake ever. Seedos did the same with Leena's dad, but he held on to Seedos' hand for quite a bit longer. Leena's dad looked right into Seedos' eyes, giving him a look that chilled Seedos to the very bone. After a few moments, he nodded in approval and Seedos felt his body flood with relief.

"Wuh-we'll all lead you guys to Arfur's Inn!" Leena nodded, smiling sheepishly at her parents.

"When are we going to see that garden of yours?" Leena's mother crossed her arms and raised her chin, which made Leena go completely pale. "I'm actually looking forward to see how you followed in your father's footsteps."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be _amazing!"_ Leena's dad ruffled his daughter's hair. "Nothing less from my sweet little pumpkin!"

"Uh, inn first, garden later!" Leena gave her dad a not so gentle push. "C'mon, let's go!"

"You're being a little jumpy, Leena…" Renee observed. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Oh, I'm peachy keen!" Leena said with an obviously fake smile. "Let's get going!"

Leena's family all looked at each other before shrugging and following Leafos down the path. Leena and Seedos lagged behind a bit and both let out great big sighs.

"This isn't going to be fun…" Leena shook her head. Seedos grabbed her hand and gave her a broken little smile.

"Not with that attitude," Seedos tipped Leena's chin up. "Come on, let's go."

With that, the two of them followed after Leena's family. Despite Seedos' encouraging words, the two of them felt chills settle in their guts.

The pressure was on…


	6. Dastardos' Plan

"Why, hello there!" Arfur boomed as Leena entered his Inn with her family in tow. Arfur grinned at Renee and Alyssa as he shined up a glass. "It's not often that we get visitors, especially not ones so lovely. Welcome to my humble Inn!"

Leena's mother took a step back, gaping at Arfur in shock. Arfur took note of her expression and the cheeks of his barrel mask turned a bit red.

"It's just a mask, madam. I get looks like that a lot…" Arfur cleared his throat and did his best to change the subject. "So… can I give you four a room?"

"That would be wonderful, thank you, sir," Leena's dad nodded respectfully, but Leena could read her dad like a book. He was clearly unnerved by Arfur and all of the Helpers sitting at the bar. Leena didn't really blame him; she had lived on the Island for quite some time and she still wasn't used to Watchlings.

"I'll pay!" Leena darted forward and fished in her bag for her wallet. She pulled it out, revealing that it was covered with pictures of frolicking Squazzils. Seedos knew it was silly, but his heart sank when he saw it. Every little thing was reminding him of the Crispy incident… "My family doesn't have any chocolate coins, so I'll be taking care of everything they need."

"Ohh, you're so sweet!" Alyssa gave Leena a great big hug from behind. Seedos and Leafos shared a nervous glance. They knew Leena was spending her last few Chocolate Coins on her family. At this rate, she won't have any money to spend on sprucing up her ruined garden…

"Here's your key!" Arfur beamed at Alyssa and handed her the rusted little key.

"We'll check out the room later…" Alyssa put the key in her pocket. "First, I want to go see my little sister's garden!"

"D-don't you want to eat first?" Leafos offered. "Arfur makes some amazing food!"

Renee shook her head. "Nah, we ate lunch on the boat."

"Come now, Helena," Leena's mother nodded at Leena who burst into a bright red blush. "Let us see your garden."

"Helena?" Seedos raised a brow at Leena and she looked down at her feet.

"Y-yeah… that's my real name… Mom, can you just call me Leena?" Leena asked as she headed to the Inn's front doors.

Leena's mother sniffed as she so often did and shook her head. "Helena is a perfectly lovely name! Are you saying you don't appreciate the name your loving mother gave you?"

_Where have I heard that before…?_ Seedos thought as he followed them outside.

A chill settled in Leena's gut as she led her family through the Village. This wasn't going to end well, she just knew it…

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP _

Dastardos was still lying on the floor of his house in a sticky pool of his own black blood, Magnar lying just outside the pool of blood with a look of concern on his face. Dastardos' wounds had closed… he should be getting up soon!

All of a sudden, Professor Pester crashed into his tree and nearly stepped on Magnar, grinning at Dastardos' possibly dead body.

"Oooh, did you get an owie?" Professor Pester stuck out his lower lip. "Wake up; I came here to congratulate you!" Professor Pester picked up Dastardos by his arms and shook him like a noodle.

Dastardos' tired, bloodshot eyes cracked open. He opened his mouth to speak and wound up vomiting a torrent of blood right onto Pester's chest.

"EUGH!" Pester dropped Dastardos onto the ground and began hastily rubbing the blood off of his chest.

"What did you expect…?" Dastardos asked as he rubbed his eyes and coughed. "The first thing I saw when I woke up was your ugly mug, no wonder I barfed."

"Gross gross gross gross!" Pester grabbed Dastardos' scarf and cleaned his chest off with it. The unfortunate end of Dastardos' scarf that was subjected to Pester's bloody, sweaty chest coughed and sobbed a bit.

"Now that _that's_ out of the way…" Pester threw Dastardos' scarf back at him and Dastardos attempted to soothe it to no avail. "I came here to congratulate you, my most magnificent minion!" Pester folded his hands under his chin, grinning a sharp-toothed grin at the ailing Dastardos.

"For what…?" Dastardos stretched and yawned, blinking his bleary eyes. He reached up to wipe some blood off his chin and was a bit surprised to see that the mouth of his mask was gone. He was too exhilarated during the fight; he didn't even notice…

"For killing that pesky little Crispy, of course!" Pester giggled and clapped his hands together. "I'm _so_ proud of you! I saw the _whole_ thing on my cameras! Leena's face when Crispy died was just _hilarious!_ I posted that picture on the villain forums and I got _so_ many compliments!" Pester pulled out his Alert System and shoved it in Dastardos' face. "Look; I even made it my wallpaper!"

Dastardos couldn't help raising a brow at the picture. Leena was collapsed on the ground, huge, fat tears pouring from her eyes with Crispy's broken body right in front of her. Dastardos was in the background, posing in victory.

_Was she really __that__ upset?_ Dastardos blinked, biting his lip. _I don't remember her expression looking like __that…_

"I've raised you well…" Pester wiped a tear from his eye. "You're absolutely _diabolical!"_ For the first time in his life, Pester grabbed Dastardos and pulled him into a tight hug. "I think you've earned yourself a promotion! How'd you like to become my right hand man? You won't have to kill sick piñatas anymore; you can run around and kill valuable piñatas, just like your old man! How does that sound?" Pester broke the hug but kept his hands on Dastardos' shoulders. Dastardos looked right into Pester's acid green eyes, feeling his heart freeze.

_I've become just like him…_ Dastardos realized, much to his horror.

Dastardos pushed Pester away and made a beeline for the door.

"Where are you going?!" Pester grabbed Dastardos by his scarves, briefly choking the reaper. "Come on, who _wouldn't_ want a job like that?!"

"I need to go think!" Dastardos yanked his scarf out of Pester's grasp and went flying outside.

"Dastardos, get back here!" Pester ran outside himself, shaking his fist at Dastardos' disappearing silhouette. "I AM YOUR FATHER! MAYBE!"

It was too late. Dastardos was already gone.

Professor Pester sighed and folded his arm, tapping his foot. He couldn't believe Dastardos sometimes… oh well, no use dwelling on it. Dastardos would come around eventually… and Pester was _sure_ he'd take that promotion!

That thought dancing around in his head, Pester skipped back towards his volcanic lair. He wondered where Dastardos was running off to… maybe he could use the monitors to spy on him!

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP _

"So…" Leena swallowed, standing right in the middle of her dirty, ruined patch of land. "This is it."

"Wow… I…" Alyssa bit her lip, trying to come up with something kind to say.

"The worm things are… cute…!" Renee offered with a paper-thin grin.

"Helena, we came all the way here to see this _failure_ of a garden?" Leena's mother turned her chin up in the air, staring down at her daughter. "_This_ is what you've been doing for the past two years?!"

"No!" Leafos cut in, sweating a bit from her nerves. "Leena has been working very hard, and-"

"And _this_ is what she has to show for it?!" Leena's mother crowed, turning her glare onto Leafos. "You Island people have no concept of what is good and what is bad, do you?! This is _bad_,no question about it!"

Leena held back for too long. She sobbed and tears began pouring from her eyes. Seedos sidled up to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, doing his best to soothe her.

Leena's father was barely doing anything. He hated conflict and he knew better than to oppose his wife, but he could tell that there was something fishy going on here. Leena's sisters felt the same way too.

"Please _let me finish!"_ Leafos barked, which shut Leena's mom up. Leafos could tell she was appalled and was worried that she'd reach out and strike her. Leafos took a few steps back and held up her hands. "I-I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout. Leena's garden wasn't always like this. It was destroyed… on her birthday. By Professor Pester."

"Who's Professor Pester?" Leena's dad finally spoke. "He sounds… like a strange fellow."

Seedos snorted. "That's the understatement of the century. Pester's a jerk; he delights in terrorizing people and hurting piñatas. Oh, and he's the person responsible for the deaths of my brother and mother."

Leena's family let out a collective gasp. Seedos shook his head and added: "So… yeah. He's not the nicest guy out there. He lives in a volcano with his minions."

"This island has villains?" Renee bit her nails. "Like… _real_ villains?"

"This is _preposterous!"_ Leena's mother exclaimed. "Helena, I can't _believe_ you live on the same island as a _murderer!"_

"Well, he hasn't killed anyone as of late…" Leafos offered. Leena's mom would have none of that, though.

"I've heard enough!" Leena's mother tore at her bobcut hair. "Helena, there is _no way_ you are going to stay on this Island! Ahh, I'm so glad I came here just in time to save you! You need to come back home, where it's safe!"

"WHAT?!" Leena squeaked, her hands flying to her mouth. Seedos gaped at Leena's mother silently, unsure of what to say.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Leafos blurted. "Leena's perfectly safe here!"  
Leena's mom sniffed. "Obviously _not._ Look what happened to her garden! Who knows what that Pester guy would have done if she was here when he ruined it!"

Leafos quietly surrendered, her expression downcast. Leena's mother had a point there…

"I'll give you two days to say goodbye to your little friends," Leena's mother walked forward and placed a hand on top of Leena's head. "Now stop that crying, Helena. We'll be taking the first boat home."

Leena gave her father a desperate look and he averted his eyes. Leena turned her pleading expression onto her sisters, who looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Mom has a point, Leena…" Renee admitted.

"We just want you to be safe and happy…" Alyssa offered Leena a look of sympathy.

"But I _am_ safe and happy!" Leena protested, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"With a ruined garden and a villain living next door?!" Leena's mother barked a laugh. "Hah! I think not!"

"Come on, Mary," Leena's dad nodded in the direction of the Village. "Let's give Leena some time to say goodbye."

"Oh yes," Leena's mother moved her hand under Leena's chin and tilted it upwards so she was looking her daughter in the eyes. "Trust me, Helena…" her voice was a lot warmer and less strict. "We just want what's best for you." With that, she followed her family into the Village.

Once they were gone, Leena dropped herself onto the dirt and buried her face in her knees, just like she always does when she's upset. Seedos and Leafos sat on either side of her. After a long silence, both of them wrapped their arms around her as she quietly wept.

It was going to be a long, long day…

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP _

Once it was around 3 PM, Leafos had to run off to help Doctor Patch out with a bunch of veterinary jobs. She left Seedos and Leena alone in her garden, quiet and solemn. Leafos crossed her fingers as she walked away, hoping with all her heart that Seedos wouldn't make things worse.

Seedos rose to his feet and offered his hand to the depressed Leena. "Come on, stand up…"

Leena took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. Seedos noticed that her eyes were bright red and her face was paler than he had ever seen. Seedos' heart sank; he couldn't believe this was happening. The girl he loved was really going to leave the Island…

…wait. There might be a way he could convince Leena's family to let her stay!

It was a silly, romantic thought, but it was worth a shot. If he confessed his love to Leena and they announced that they wanted to marry, maybe, just maybe, Leena's parents would give them their blessing and realize their mistake!

Heck, maybe they'd even stay on the Island for good! Seedos thought it would be awesome if Leena's family could attend their wedding and help them raise their kids…

"Leena…" Seedos took her hands and looked straight into her eyes. "I know you're sad right now, but I've… I've gotta tell you something!" He was blushing now, he knew it. His face felt like it was on fire… "It might cheer you up!"

"What?" Leena sniffled, her eyes watery.

"Leena…" Seedos took a deep breath and let it out. Gripping Leena's hands as hard as he could, he loudly blurted "I love you!"

Leena looked at Seedos for a long, long time, her eyes as wide as a Galagoogoo's and her mouth hanging open. Seedos felt his heart begin to pound in his chest; she was probably completely shell-shocked with love! She'd snap out of it in a minute, Seedos was sure. Seedos subconsciously puckered his lips a bit, expecting a kiss, finally an end to all of the romantic tension that had hung between them for the past two years!

Imagine Seedos' surprise when Leena tore her hands away from his and slapped him across the mask.

The magic of Seedos' mask made _sure_ that he felt the sting of that slap. He placed his hand on his throbbing cheek, looking at Leena in disbelief, tears filling his purple eyes. "Leena… _why?"_

"You IDIOT!" Leena smacked his other cheek, grinding her teeth. "Do you have any idea how _long_ I've waited to hear you say that?! And you tell me _now?!_ My heart is _broken,_ Seedos! I've lost _everything!_ The last thing on my mind right now is _you!"_

Every word Leena said was like a knife twisting in Seedos' heart. He swallowed a lump in his throat and did his best to keep his expression stoic. He wasn't gonna cry… he wasn't gonna cry…

"I don't need you right now," Leena couldn't bear to make eye contact with Seedos. "I don't need love or a boyfriend. What I need right now is time alone to get my thoughts together. _God,_ Seedos. I can't _believe_ you did this… why'd you tell me _now,_ of all times?!"

"Leena, I just wanted to-" Seedos moved to pull Leena into an embrace, but she ducked under his arms.

"NO, Seedos! Just… no!" Leena shook her head, her face reddening with anger. "I'm going home. Don't you _dare_ follow me!" With that, Leena turned on her heel and made a beeline for her tree house. Seedos watched her go, his heart as heavy as a cinderblock.

As soon as Leena was out of his sight, Seedos dropped to his knees, tossed his mask aside, and buried his face in his hands.

And he cried.

He cried and cried until he had no tears left.

Leena wasn't the only one who lost things that meant a lot… Seedos had lost his brother and he had lost the girl he loved within mere hours of each other.

So much for Piñata Island being the happiest place on the planet…

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP _

Nothing was around Dastardos except for the ambient sounds of water. Little piñata fish swam around him and his scarves floated up and attempted to nip at them.

He was sitting at the bottom of a lake, his legs crossed tailor style and his eyes closed. His hair floated around him like a silver halo as he did his best to organize his thoughts into neat little piles. Of course, he was completely failing. No matter what he did, his head felt like it was filled with TV static.

_I'm so stupid…_ Dastardos thought. _I'm the biggest damn idiot on this Island, and that's saying something._

Dastardos thought of Avalon, how she had lit up upon seeing him a mere few days ago. Now she looked at him with more contempt than Dastardos could ever imagine, which made Dastardos' heart sink… Dastardos knew very well that he screwed up. _Badly. But maybe he deserved it…_ After all, Avalon had said, clear as day, that she only wanted to talk. Dastardos had snapped all the same. _God, I'm the biggest jerk in the universe…_ Dastardos thought, folding his arms.

Now Avalon's arm was shattered and she was probably in immense pain. Dastardos could only imagine how betrayed she felt… not only did she lose one of her best friends, but he had hurt her, both emotionally and physically. And all of it was his stupid fault…

Dastardos briefly contemplated eviscerating himself with a shovel. After a few moments reflecting on that, he got a better idea.

Dastardos' eyes shot open and a grin spread across his crooked mouth. _I've got it! It's not much… but… maybe, just maybe, it'll be a step in the right direction._

Dastardos stood up and kicked the bottom of the lake, shooting to the surface at top speed. He broke the surface, throwing his head back and shaking his hair out, taking in a deep breath of fresh air.

He opened his eyes to see Leafos and Doc Patchingo staring at him from near the lakeshore. They were standing over a sick Pretztail that belonged to a concerned, dark-skinned gardener with a pink Tigermisu mask.

"What?" Dastardos placed his arms on the shore, giving the three a shit-eating grin. "Never saw a mermaid as gorgeous as me before?" He tilted his head to the side, his grin widening.

"Dastardos…" Patch shook his head and pointed in the general direction of the desert. "Go home."

"Ugh, fine, _Mom,"_ Dastardos flipped Patch the bird before stepping out of the lake. He shook his hair around like a Barkbark, making sure to splash Patch, Leafos, and the hapless gardener. "Later!" After a quick salute, Dastardos took off towards his house.

"Sometimes I wonder if he hit his head as a child…" Leafos shook her head as she spooned more medicine into the sick Pretztail's mouth.

"It's to be expected from a protégé of Pester's…" the gardener shrugged. "Pay him no mind."

"That's the best advice I've ever heard…" Patch beamed at the gardener, who beamed right back. The Pretztail sprang up and jumped into the gardener's arms.

"Another job well done, Leafos," Patch put his arm around Leafos' shoulders and gave her an affectionate side-hug. "Come on, let's go get some food. My treat."

After the two divided up their payment, they headed towards the Village hand-in-hand, the incident with Dastardos all but forgotten.

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP _

Dastardos had liberated a pot from Pester's volcanic hideout and was now stirring all sorts of things into it from odd little bottles, his hair pulled back in a mockery of a ponytail and his mask off so his vision wouldn't be obstructed at all.

"Whatcha makin', Stardos?" Magnar asked from his place on the couch, tilting his fluffy little head.

"Medicine," Dastardos said as he crushed a rose with a mortar and pestle. "A painkilling tonic. For… well, it's for Avalon…" Dastardos' pale cheeks colored black.

Magnar hopped to his feet. "Why are you making _her_ medicine?! She's trouble, Stardos! She hurt you!" Magnar gave Dastardos the most heart-melting pout _ever._ Dastardos did his best not to be swayed by Magnar's cuteness.

"I'm fine now, Magnar, and I realized that I made a big mistake," Dastardos sighed as he poured the crushed rose into the pot, red, sparkly smoke poofing out of it and filling the air with a sweet smell. "I hurt her much more than she hurt me… not to mention my stupidity made me lose her as a friend…" Dastardos put just a pinch of powdered sour candy into the pot. Just a little bit wasn't dangerous, and it actually had quite a bit of painkilling capability. Sadly, it would make the medicine taste absolutely _awful,_ but there were always sacrifices to be made if one wanted to feel better.

"You really wanna give her another chance?" Magnar sat his little butt down on the couch, raising a paw to his mouth. "Well… if you wanna, I fully support your decision!" Magnar bounced, a great big smile on his little face.

"Glad you do," Dastardos sighed as he stirred the pot.

"Oh, by the way…" Magnar hopped down and moved closer to his favorite reaper. "Affalon isn't at her house."

"I figured…" Dastardos moved the spoon upward, marveling at the viscous, bright red liquid. It was dumb, but he was always fascinated by the witch doctor concoctions he was capable of brewing up. They could do _anything._ "She's staying at that stupid Patch's, right? Or at my sister's. Ugh, Leafos and Patch have been _inseparable _lately, you know. It's enough to make you vomit…"

"Nope, both wrong!" Magnar shook his head.

"I am?" Dastardos turned around, raising a silvery-grey brow at his piñata friend. "Where is she?"

"When you passed out, Yen came in here," Magnar stuck out his tongue, his nose wrinkling in disgust. "He said he was gonna take Affalon to _his_ house and take care of her! It was gross. Oh, and Yen _totally _thought you were dead, which made me worry…" Magnar sighed. "But you're okay! So joke's on him."

"Ugh, _Yen?_ Are you serious?" Dastardos hung his head. "Ugh, I think I might hate that kid more than Patch. Idealistic dreamers like him make my stomach turn. I'd quite like to kill him."

"Are you still gonna bring Affalon the medicine?" Magnar absent-mindedly pawed at one of Dastardos' scarves as he spoke. Dastardos' scarves were awfully fond of Magnar; the one Magnar was playing with let out happy little sounds of laughter. "Cuz I totally think you should anyway. Screw Yen."

Dastardos let out a great big laugh. "Agreed! Of course I am," Dastardos turned around and leaned over to kiss Magnar's head. "Good boy. I raised you well."

Magnar absolutely glowed at the praise.

"I just need one more ingredient…" Dastardos straightened up and headed to his cabinet. He grabbed a bottle of honey and spooned a bit into the medicine, stirring it around. "That ought to do it." He turned off the fire on his stove and flew to his cabinet again, grabbing an empty bottle. Dastardos rolled up his sleeve and plunged his invulnerable hand into the piping hot liquid, letting it fill the medicine bottle.

Dastardos capped it and held it up, smiling in victory. "All done!"

"You did awesome!" Magnar hopped around the tree in celebration. "Affalon is gonna be _so_ happy!" Magnar knew firsthand just how well that medicine worked. Dastardos had made it for him quite a few times when Magnar wasn't feeling one hundred percent.

"Hopefully," Dastardos shook the medicine bottle up in hopes that it would somehow taste better if it moved around. "Wish me luck, little buddy."

"G'luck!" Magnar looked up at Dastardos with his big, lovable eyes.

"Thanks," Dastardos winked at Magnar before flying out the door.

Magnar jumped back onto the couch and curled up into a ball, wondering if this would really work…

He hoped it would. Dastardos could use a friend to keep him in line.


	7. The Medicine

**AN: Before I begin, I just want to say that Lizzie wrote the bit at the end of the chapter, not me. So direct all praise for that part to her! So happy with what she wrote, it's AMAZING. I hope you guys like it too!**

The sun had finally begun to set and Yen was out buying Avalon all of the teas he could get his hands on. Meanwhile, Yoto and Bart were out somewhere together, discussing proposal tactics. Yoto was still feeling meek after his failure of a proposal, so Bart was doing his best to whip the boy into shape. After all, the sooner Yoto married Storkos, the sooner he'd be out of Bart's house! Bart hoped Yen would marry Avalon, too. Then he'd be all alone in his little cottage, free to spend as much time with Gretchen as he wanted! Not to mention Avalon was rich… Bart wondered if he could cajole Yen and his future wife to toss some of that chocolate coinage his way…

Leena, who had been making her rounds through the Village saying goodbye to everyone, had stopped by Yen's place to visit Avalon. She didn't have the heart to tell Avalon just yet… instead she was telling her about another problem that was weighing on her mind.

"There's one more thing, Avalon…" Leena bit her lip, her eyes travelling around the room and landing on a framed photo on Yen's wall. It was of Yen, smirking, with his arm around a frightening looking young man. The photo was signed… it must be a picture of some famous person Yen admired. Leena always found Yen's taste in things to be kind of scary…

"Wot is it?" Avalon asked, touching her good hand to her lips.

"It's about Seedos…" Leena bunched her skirt in her hands. "About an hour ago… he told me that he loves me."

Avalon completely and utterly gaped at Leena. "_No way._ Wot did yew say?"

"I… well…" Leena twirled her index fingers together. "I told him I couldn't… because…"

"Because why?" Avalon tilted her head. "Yew can tell me, Leena."

"Mom and Daddy want to take me home," Leena let out an enormous sigh, fighting back tears. "They think I don't belong here… and they're worried about Pester."

"And yew didn't stand up to them?!" Avalon narrowed her eyes at Leena. "I 'ave to tell you, I'm disappointed."

"Don't be!" Leena squeaked, folding her hands under her chin. "Mom's _crazy!_ If I tried to stand up to her, she'd flip out!"

"Shame I'm in no condition to be walking… my ribs are still broken…" Avalon sighed and shook her head. "Otherwise I'd give that mother of yours a piece of my mind!"

"I wish you could…" Leena looked at Avalon's stomach. Her ribs didn't _look_ broken… weren't they supposed to stick out gruesomely?

The two of them sat in silence for a good long while. Finally, Avalon broke it.

"Leena… when I get better, I swear I'll do wotever it takes to get your garden back on track. Sound good?"

"Y-yes!" Leena couldn't help it. Tears started to fill her eyes, but she was smiling. "Thank you, Avalon! You're the best!"

"Aw, psh," Avalon waved Leena off. "Not even close… but I appreciate the sentiment."

Leena did her best to fight off the urge to pull Avalon into an enormous hug. It wouldn't be fun with broken ribs, that was for sure. For a brief moment, Leena forgot all about her wrecked garden and her broken heart. With friends like Avalon, who needs a boyfriend?

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP _

"Sparcticus, I have come to you because you know how it feels to get your heart completely shattered," Seedos sighed, shivering from his head to his toes, snow blowing all around him and sticking to his bright blue hair and his shoulders. Seedos had trekked to the Piñarctic, in bare feet, no less, in hopes of getting some advice. Sadly, from the way Sparcticus was looking at him, Seedos could tell that he thought he was crazy.

Sparcticus sighed, shaking his head. "I thought I made it perfectly clear that I don't want to talk about She Who Must Not Be Named," Sparcticus leaned against the doorframe, crossing his thick arms.

"I'm not here to talk about Sahari!" Seedos protested. "I'm here for advice! About Leena…" Seedos looked down at his frozen toes, his cheeks red. Sparcticus wasn't sure if Seedos' mask was red from the cold or from the mere mention of Leena… maybe both.

Sparcticus groaned and moved to the side. "Fine, Seedos… come in," He gestured to the inside of his house.

"Yay!" Seedos bolted into the house and made himself comfortable on the couch by the fire. The smell of burning firewood made Seedos nostalgic… his mom used to always light fires at night back when he lived with his family. Sparcticus lumbered over and sat down next to him.

"So… you got your heart broken, too?" Sparcticus rested his elbow on a bent knee, placing his hand on his cheek. "I'm not surprised…" Sparcticus glanced at his mantle, which was filled with empty photo frames. Formerly, they had been filled with photos of Sahari, him with Sahari, and a very _special_ picture she had sent him. Sparcticus' favorite perk of living alone was being able to put that photo on full display.

Seedos had a small heart attack. "You don't have to say it like _that…"_ he pouted. "Leena's _leaving,_ Sparcticus! Sahari might have broken up with you, but she's not going anywhere! Leena's going back to America and there's _nothing I can do!"_ Seedos' voice cracked as he tore at his bright blue hair.

Sparcticus shrugged. "Maybe you could tell her parents that you want to marry her, and-"

"Are you joking?" Seedos blinked. "I had the _exact same idea._ I told Leena that I love her and she slapped me! Look!" Seedos shoved his mask aside, revealing his left cheek. There was an enormous handprint over a swollen bruise.

Sparcticus winced. "_Ow._ Leena never struck me as a slapper…"

"You're telling me…" Seedos snorted and covered his face up again.

"Seedos…can I ask you a question?" Sparcticus asked, his expression sincere. Seedos nodded, absent-mindedly kicking his legs. Truth be told, Sparcticus kind of intimidated him… he mentally congratulated himself for being able to approach this Jeli of a man for advice.

"Why did you wait so long to tell Leena?" Sparcticus scratched his shaggy, dark hair. "That just seems… dumb. I can't believe you waited until you learned she was _leaving._ She's not thinking about boys right now. I mean… I wouldn't be in her position. Er, but I wouldn't be thinking about girls…" Sparcticus averted his eyes, blushing at his slip-up.

"I couldn't help it! I wasn't… I wasn't sure _what_ I wanted…" Seedos sighed, shaking his head. "I thought I just wanted seeds, Shellybeans, and a swamp. I thought there was no room for Leena…" Seedos fiddled with his hands, his expression somber. "But I was wrong… now that I've gotten to know her, I realized that I love her… even after she smacked me and ran away from me, I still love her!" Seedos buried his mask in his hands, choking back sobs.

Sparcticus scooched a little closer, draping a strong arm around the much younger boy. "I know the feeling… after Sahari yelled at me and stomped away from me, I still love her too. I feel like I couldn't stop loving her if I tried…" Sparcticus admitted with an ironic little smile. "She just needs time to come around. So does Leena. Don't try to scare her off with advances. She needs a friend right now, Seedos. Be a friend to her for just a bit longer. I don't know if you want a long distance relationship, but maybe you can get that, at least."

Seedos rose up from his hands, blinking back tears as he looked into Sparcticus' eyes. "You really think so? I wouldn't mind a long-distance relationship…" he admitted, blushing. "It might actually make things easier… maybe I can visit America sometimes…"

"That's a good attitude," Sparcticus smiled. "I think you should tell Leena you're sorry. I'm sure she'll forgive you."

"Are you really sure?" Seedos asked, shuddering a bit. "What if she slaps me again?"

"Well, that should be a risk you're willing to take," Sparcticus stood up and approached the door, opening it up and gesturing outside. "Go on, Seedos. Go apologize."

"Okay, okay, I will!" Seedos grinned, running outside into the snow like a man on a mission, not even noticing the biting cold as he bolted towards the Village.

Sparcticus watched him go, slightly shaking his head. He couldn't believe young people these days… so impulsive. Oh well, hopefully Leena would forgive Seedos… but just in case she didn't, Sparcticus should get some ice cream ready…

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP _

Seedos' hands shook and sweated as he climbed up the ladder to Leena's tree house. Oh, he hoped she would be home… she had a lot of goodbyes to get through, after all.

Seedos finally pulled himself onto Leena's deck, approached her door, and knocked, swallowing a lump in his throat. Much to his surprise, Leena opened it a few moments later. As soon as she saw Seedos she looked away, folding her arms.

"What do you want…?" she asked, doing her best to disguise the animosity in her voice. She failed and Seedos got a bit offended.

"Actually, Leena…" Seedos' voice cracked and he cleared his throat before trying again. "Actually, Leena, I'm here to say I'm sorry…" Seedos looked down at his feet and traced a toe down one of the cracks in the wood.

"You are?" Leena finally looked up, a smile spreading across her face. "Really?"

"What I did was impulsive and stupid… and I'm really, _really_ sorry!" Seedos barely resisted the urge to grab Leena's hands. He didn't want to make her nervous… "You don't need any more headache right now… I just want you to be as happy as possible on your last day on the Island…"

Much to Seedos' surprise, Leena pulled him into a tight, warm hug. Seedos gasped a bit, and after hovering a bit, he placed his hand on Leena's back.

"Seedos… it's impossible to be happy when I'm leaving my true home…" Leena sounded all choked up. "But I'm really glad you apologized. Happier than you might think…" Leena broke the hug and grabbed onto Seedos' hands. "I need to go say bye to a few more people… do you want to come with me?"

"It'll be sad… but I do want to spend more time with you before you have to go tomorrow morning…" Seedos gave Leena's little hands a supportive squeeze. "Sure."

"You're the _best,"_ Leena stood on her toes and gave Seedos a little kiss on the cheek of his mask. Seedos' face erupted into flames and Leena quickly began descending her tree house's ladder. "Come on, let's get going!"

"Coming!" Seedos headed down the ladder himself. He pushed down his sorrow as he followed Leena into the Village. He couldn't be sad; the girl he loved forgave him for his stupidity! Plus, if he was sad, she'd be sad too, and that would make Seedos feel awfully guilty…

Seedos caught up to Leena and gave her a sheepish smile. He hoped the villagers wouldn't take Leena's departure too hard… Seedos had a bad feeling that Eddie was going to cry himself into a coma.

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP _

Night fell and Dastardos was sitting in the Cunningham-Yoa family's backyard, the bottle of medicine clutched in his bony hands. He took a deep breath and let it out, his grip tightening.

"Come on, Dastardos, you can do this…" he told himself, biting his lip and casting a nervous glance at the window. "She's not in good condition. She won't kill you…"

That was enough of a pep talk to get Dastardos floating. He held his breath and flew through the wall…

…and wound up in Yoto's room.

It was the biggest mess Dastardos had ever seen. Clothes were strewn everywhere, books on Tinkering were thrown on the ground, and the sleeping Yoto was barely underneath his bunched-up blankets. Drool was seeping out of the corner of the ginger tinker's mouth, which made Dastardos wrinkle his nose with distaste. He wasn't exactly a picture of cleanliness, but he didn't approve of a slob like Yoto being with his little sister.

_I don't approve of anyone being with either of my sisters…_ Dastardos thought with a tiny snort. He floated as quietly as he could and flew into the hallway. He looked around and found a door covered in artsy black and white photos.

_That's the room I'm looking for!_ Dastardos thought with a little smirk. He flew right through and was pleased to see Yen wasn't there. Avalon was, though, dead asleep in Yen's bed, her chest rising and falling and a peaceful expression on her unmasked face.

Dastardos couldn't help looking away. Looking at someone's face without their permission was as disrespectful as it gets! Still, Dastardos _had_ to wake her up.

Slowly, he floated over to her side and gently shook her shoulder. Avalon's eyes snapped open and she let out an ear-splitting scream, taking her formerly broken arm out of its sling and slugging Dastardos in the face with it.

Much to Dastardos' _immense_ shock, it actually hurt! He wasn't the only one in pain; Avalon ground her teeth and grabbed her arm. It still wasn't fully healed, after all. She cursed her impulsiveness…

"Avalon… that hurt!" Dastardos exclaimed, his hand on his throbbing cheek. "That wasn't supposed to hurt…!"

"Wot are yew _doing_ 'ere?!" Avalon rolled up the sleeve of her nightgown. "Yew better tell me before I break _your_ arm!" Avalon was too angry to revel in her newfound power. Yoto tinkering her bones must have given her the ability to hurt Dastardos! Since he supposedly hated her now, that would sure come in handy!

"I'm not mad at you anymore!" Dastardos confessed, casting a nervous glance at the door. Didn't anyone hear Avalon shriek…? Little did Dastardos know, Yoto could sleep through a war and Bart was off cavorting at Gretchen's place. Yen took the long way home from shopping to clear his thoughts, much too far away to hear Avalon shouting.

"Are yew _joking?"_ Avalon spat, grabbing her mask from the bedside table and fixing it onto her face. "Dastardos, yew nearly _killed _me! I'm not going to forgive you that easily!"

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that… but…" Dastardos held out the medicine to Avalon. "I made you this. I wanted to help. I figured if I did it might speed up the healing process… of your arm _and_ our friendship… by the way, didn't you move the arm I broke?" Dastardos reflexively drew the medicine back, gazing at Avalon's arm that had been useless just a few hours ago. "What the hell happened?"

"Yoto tinkered my bones and now they're back in place," Avalon rotated her arm, smiling a bit as she spread her fingers. "'E's one talented fellow. 'E's come an awfully long way, yew know. It still really, really 'urts, though…" Avalon rubbed her arm, biting her lip.

"Huh," Dastardos blinked his distorted eyes. "Seems like it's more than fixed. You _hurt me_ when you smacked me!" Dastardos touched his hurt cheek again. "That's the first time I've been hurt in _years!_ Uh, barring shovels, of course." Dastardos snorted at the mere mention of those things.

"I _know!"_ An enormous grin spread across Avalon's face as her rage completely melted away. "Isn't that _amazing?_ Now yew'll _never_ mess with me again!"

"Maybe for _you!"_ Dastardos folded his arms, tilting his chin in the air. "I don't appreciate being smacked around, thank you very much!"

Avalon stopped grinning and a frown crossed her face. Was… was this really the same man who attacked her in the tree? Dastardos seemed to be back to his old self, even meeker than his old self, and he seemed genuinely apologetic.

"Please take this medicine…" Dastardos breathed, floating up to Avalon and holding the bottle to her lips. "I promise it won't hurt you. It'll make you feel better."

"Um… I'm not sure…" Avalon bit her lip, eyeing the bottle with disdain. It smelled _horrible…_

"It doesn't taste good, but witch doctor brews almost never do," Dastardos snorted. "Come on, trust me. I'm your _friend,_ remember? Even friends have their spats."

"Oh… okay…" Avalon parted her lips and Dastardos began to pour the liquid down her throat.

Suddenly, the door opened wide and Yen walked in, a few twigs in his hair from his excursion in the forest. Upon seeing Avalon and Dastardos, his jaw dropped and he let out an earsplitting shriek.

"Oh, crap!" Dastardos dropped the medicine, spilling it all over the sheets. Without paying it any mind, he took off as fast as he could.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU FUCKING MURDERER! YOU SCUMBAG! YOU-" Yen shouted, running towards the wall Dastardos disappeared through. He almost flung himself up against it, but he realized that idea probably wasn't wise. His chest heaving, he turned to Avalon with tears in his eyes.

"Was he trying to poison you?! What was he doing?" Yen asked, looking at the medicine that had spilled over the sheet with his brow furrowed. He knew that color anywhere… "That looks _sour!_ Were you _willingly _letting him sour you?! Avalon, have you lost your mind?!" Yen tore at his red hair and Avalon slammed her palm into her forehead.

"Yen, that was _medicine._ 'E was _worried_ about me. Is that a crime?"

"Hell yes it's a crime!" Yen threw his hands in the air. "Have you forgotten? He tried to _kill you!_ That stuff was probably to finish you off!"

"Well, I'm not dead yet, am I?" Avalon asked, tilting her head to the side.

Yen looked down at his feet. "Maybe… maybe it's one of those slow-acting poisons…"

Avalon snorted. "Yen, Dastardos isn't patient enough for that. 'E was apparently really on edge when I went after 'im. That's why 'e hurt me."

"Well, that doesn't make it okay…" Yen folded his arms tightly. "I don't trust him, Avalon, and you shouldn't either!"

Avalon sighed, rolling down the top sheet with the medicine stain on it and pulling the bottom sheet up over her chest. "Yen… get some sleep. It's not a big deal, I swear…" She yawned, her eyelids heavy. "I'm… so tired…" With that, Avalon paled a bit and completely passed out.

Yen sat patiently next to Avalon's bedside, breathing heavily.

He thanked his lucky stars that he had checked on Avalon, his heart still faint at the mental image of Dastardos, cradling Avalon as he forced a bottle of red liquid to her lips. That scene was so tender that it made his stomach turn. He was pouring god-knows-what down her throat, his arm around her head and his eyes locked with hers.

He was proud of himself that Dastardos turned and fled after he gave him a piece of his mind.

Avalon had reassured him that they had agreed on this, but something seemed off to Yen… Avalon had just fainted after all.

Yen briefly considered calling Patch, but this sleep was actually deep and silent, unlike the past few nights. She was completely out with a… a smile on her face?

Yen started to wonder what had caused that when Avalon's Alert System gave a cheerful buzz from the side table. He could see part of a message on it.

He really shouldn't look at her messages, that's such a scummy thing for him to do!

But in the end, overwhelming curiosity got the better of him. Who else was worried about her?

He picked up the purple phone and nearly dropped it when it said **Message From Niles Fishnchips. **

He knew very well who that was. His heart sank down into his sneakers.

The message started:

Avako n ,, i forgot t o tel you thaat…

And the message cut off. He'd have to actually unlock her Alert System to get to the rest. Which he did.

It was password protected, and it took him the better part of an hour to figure the number combination out, but he eventually succeeded.

Avalon had drifted into a sleep so deep that sometimes she stopped breathing. She always started again, but only after Yen had successfully panicked and had almost finished dialing Patch's number.

Yen panicked again when he saw the wallpaper of her Alert System.

He wasn't really sure what she would have (probably something with one of her piñata), but he would never have guessed that….

… The cold eyes of the grim reaper would be staring back at him.

Yen blinked as he moved it closer to his face. In the photo, Dastardos had a _warm smile_ on his mask.

He was wearing that secondary mask from Poprockolis, and was actually wearing a _suit_. Yen took a few moments to marvel the craftsmanship of it (Eddie's Mother must have made it, nobody had stitches quite like that), but then returned to the rest of the picture. It was a photograph taken in a bathroom, with Dastardos leaning back on a sink. He was wearing a genuine, almost goobaaish grin as he ran a hand through his rowdy hair.

_ Why the hell would she have a photo of him like that!?_

Yen's heart started running, then dashing full-tilt into his ribcage, trying desperately to leave the confines of his chest.

_ Could she actually have feelings for that jackass!?_

He felt short of breath.

_ Oh my god, that fight wasn't for Leena, that was a lover's spat. _

He staggered off his chair.

The Alert System let out another cheerful shake and another message popped up:

BUt dont worri, you willl bee jus t fine when youu w ake up. I knoW that youu could never forgiv mee for wat i did , but i neverr wil forgiv miiself eitherr. You are thee only person i have c ared about.

Yen felt like he was having a heart attack. They really did have something going on.

_ And if I just stand around and not do anything, she's going to run right back to that bastard!_

Yen wouldn't, couldn't let that happen.

A plan started hatching in his head. An evil, despicable plan, but Yen knew you could only fight evil with evil.

He pocketed Avalon's Alert System and stood up. He leaned over the bed, kissed the unmoving Avalon on the lips, and then darted into the hallway.

"YOTO!" yelled Yen as loud as he could, "I NEED YOUR HELP!"


	8. The Call

Yen bolted into Yoto's room, his heart thumping at the speed of light. Yoto was still dead asleep despite Yen's shouting, an enormous waterfall of drool seeping out of his mouth and soaking his pillow. Yen was too stressed to be disgusted, and he ran right up to his brother and began shaking him like a ragdoll.

"Yoto! Wake up! I _need_ you!" Yen urged, doing his best to fight back tears.

"Ugh… Yen… we're _brothers…"_ Yoto's crusty, sleepy eyes cracked open and he yawned so hugely he almost inhaled Yen's entire body. "That's _gross."_

"That's not what I mean!" Yen hopped back and forth. "I need your _help!"_

"What the hell do you need me to do…?!" Yoto put his pillow over his face. "It's, like, three in the morning…"

Yen bit his lip, thinking for a few moments. What he was about to do was completely slimy, underhanded, and utterly despicable. But he _had_ to do it. He had to do it to keep Avalon. If he didn't, the girl of his dreams would be snatched away by a _corpse._ A corpse who murdered piñatas and broke the hearts of little girls. A corpse who actually has the gall to _hurt women_ who did absolutely _nothing_ to him.

_Dastardos deserves whatever he gets._

Yen swallowed and wiped a tear from his eye. He had to make this convincing. "Yoto… I went to check on Avalon last night and Dastardos was there. He was trying to hurt her-"

"He WHAT?!" Yoto threw off his sheets and jumped to his feet, a vein bulging out of his forehead. His face began turning purple with rage. "I'll _KILL_ him! I can't _BELIEVE_ he tried to finish her off! That _BASTARD!"_ Yoto threw his pillow at the wall so hard it exploded into a flurry of downy feathers.

"I was hoping you'd react that way…" Yen fought off a smile. "I have a plan to get back at him. It's going to be _perfect."_

"What? I'll do _anything!"_ Yoto looked into Yen's eyes, his expression serious for once.

"You're amazing at impressions, right?" Yen asked, tilting his head.

"Psh, you'd think you didn't live with me!" Yoto snorted. He nodded in the direction of Potato, who was asleep in his cage. "That little fella taught me everything I know. What does that have to do with Avalon getting attacked, though?" he asked, planting his hands on his hips.

"Well…" Yen clicked his tongue. "Can you do an impression of her?"  
"Wot ho! I love yew, Yen! Yew sure are a 'ot stud!" Yoto launched into one right away. It was utterly flawless and unmistakably feminine; it really threw Yen for a loop. Yoto laughed in spite of everything, still doing a perfect impression of Avalon.

"That's _perfect!"_ Yen exclaimed, gawking at his brother in disbelief. "Anyway, I'm going to go swipe Avalon's Alert System, and you're going to give Dastardos a call and tear him a new one! He'll never even _look_ at Avalon again!" Yen snickered sinisterly and Yoto raised a brow.

"Don't laugh like that, it makes _you_ sound like Dastardos," Yoto took a step back, giving Yen a look of fear.

Yen cleared his throat and blushed. "I didn't mean to do that. Uh, just give me a second to write out a script for you. He'll probably be so dumbstruck he won't even be able to talk!" Snickering again, Yen high-tailed it to the living room, grabbing a pen and paper from Bart's writing desk.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Yen asked Yoto, who had followed him into the living room. Yen was scrawling out a script as fast as he could, making sure it was one hell of a heartbreaker. He certainly wouldn't want Avalon to say these things to _him,_ but this was all Dastardos deserved to hear and more.

"Anything to protect Avalon," Yoto cracked his knuckles. He dragged a cushioned chair over to Yen and plunked down in it, craning his neck to look at what his twin was writing. When he saw it, his eyebrows practically flew into orbit. "Wow, Yen, I didn't know you were _this_ mean… hot _damn."_

"It's a _masterpiece_ so far," Yen smirked. "Dastardos is _definitely _going to get what's coming to him."

"He sure is!" Yoto threw his arm around his brother. "You're the _best!_ I'm cool with having an evil brother! You'll protect all the pretty ladies in town!"  
"I'm not evil, Yoto," Yen sighed, blowing his long bangs out of his eyes. "I just want Avalon to be safe…" Yen turned his attention back to his writing, his expression solemn. If Avalon stayed with Dastardos, he'd hurt her again for _sure._ Avalon had already promised herself to Yen and then Dastardos came along and tried to snatch her away! The thought of Dastardos and Avalon together made Yen's stomach knot up with nausea. Well, after this, Dastardos would never come near her again. Yen was _sure_ of that.

"Wow, Yen…" Yoto's voice was soft as he took his arm off of his brother. "You really do love Avalon, huh?"

"I love her more than I can bear," Yen crossed out a sentence that wasn't harsh enough. "I'd do _anything_ for her, Yoto. She rules my world."

"I know how it feels to feel that way about a girl…" Yoto admitted with a little smile. "Avalon's my best friend, y'know! I'm still super pissed that Dastardos did that to her, but we're gonna get him, aren't we?"

"Yes, Yoto," Yen finished up his script and held it out to Yoto, a tiny little grin crossing his face. "We're gonna get him. Give it a read."

Yoto's eyes scanned the paper, his jaw dropping more and more as he read on. "Geez, Yen, I'm gonna have to rehearse this a few times so I don't mess up. This is _intense!"_

"I know," Yen flipped his hair confidently. "This is going to be totally worth it. I'll go grab Avalon's Alert System while you rehearse." Yen stood up and strolled into the hallway.

Yoto picked up the script, his hands shaking as he gripped the sides. He couldn't _believe_ Dastardos tried to hurt Avalon… he was going to _pay_ for messing with his best friend in the whole world!

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP_

Dastardos sighed as he laid on the floor in his dead tree, blinking blearily at Magnar. "I hope I did the right thing… I think Avalon and me are on in each other's good books again. But I'm sure it'll take her a while to trust me…"

"Don't worry, Stardos!" Magnar squeaked, shuffling over to his owner and giving him a nudge on his cheek. "She'll forgive you for _sure!_ You're _awesome!"_

Dastardos chuckled, shutting his eyes contentedly. "Magnar, you're the only being in the world who thinks that. Oh well, time will tell."

"She'll totally forgive you," Magnar insisted, curling up next to Dastardos and purring. Dastardos scooched closer, resting his cheek against Magnar's papery fur.

The two of them laid in silence for a while, dozing off a bit… that is, until Dastardos' Alert System started ringing impossibly loud.

"Ugh, god damn it, Pester…" Dastardos groggily floated upwards and approached his couch, grabbing his Alert System from between the ragged cushions. Much to his surprise, it wasn't Pester calling him.

The name "Avalon" flashed on his screen.

"I guess she _does_ forgive me…!" Dastardos breathed a sigh of relief, bringing the Alert System to his ear. "Yes, hello, Avalon? I'm so glad you called, I-"

"Yew've got some nerve, yew _bastard,"_ Avalon's voice was… different somehow. It was cold and angry, with no signs of weakness. Nothing like the meek voice she was speaking in before Dastardos left. "I can't _believe_ yew tried to _poison _me!"

"What-_what?!"_ Dastardos' jaw dropped. Avalon was _mad_ at him?! What about their truce? "Why are you mad at me?! I wasn't going to poison you, I tried to-"

"Yeah, likely story," Avalon snorted. "I passed out as soon as yew gave me that disgusting stuff! Were yew trying to _Sour _me?! I don't want to become a disgusting zombie like _yew_ are! First yew 'urt me, and now yew tried to kill me! I _never_ want to see yew again, Dastardos!" Avalon's voice was absolutely intense and bubbling with rage. Unbeknownst to Dastardos, the person on the other end of the line was a very angry Yoto, about to explode from his fury. Yoto's impersonation of Avalon was spot-on, and his anger was completely genuine. Yen's little fib was enough to fire Yoto up to do this dirty job.

"I can't _believe_ you!" Dastardos sounded hurt. "You know what?! Fine! It was a mistake to try and fix our relationship! I'll just rot here in this tree, alone and friendless, for the rest of my life!" Dastardos sunk to a new low with that comment, hoping it would wake "Avalon" up. It didn't work.

_"GOOD."_ Spat "Avalon". The Alert System went dead and Dastardos let out a roar, throwing it against the wall. It shattered into a million pieces all over the floor, but Dastardos didn't care. He flew over to his _Dastardly_ poster and tore that to shreds too.

"What was I thinking?! What the hell is _wrong_ with me?!" Dastardos threw the pieces of poster onto the floor and sunk to the ground, burying his face in his hands. "I _never_ should have tried to make friends with _her!_ Never!"

"Stardos…" Magnar stepped lightly towards him, his big eyes shining with tears. "I think you should go give Affalon a piece of your mind. Don't hurt her, though, okay? No matter how much you want to. You shouldn't make things worse…"

"You know what, Magnar?" Dastardos floated to his feet, grabbing his mask off the arm of the couch and strapping it on. "I think I _will._ I won't mince words. I might be dead, but I still have _feelings_ god damn it!"

"Good luck…" Magnar squeaked, taking a few steps back. Dastardos was scary when he was angry…

Dastardos gave Magnar a curt little nod before taking off into the night for the second time.

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP_

Yoto let out a satisfied sigh as he shut off Avalon's Alert System. Grinning, he turned to Yen and planted his hands on his hips. "That felt _awesome._ How'd I do, bro? Did I do good?" Yoto tilted his head to the side, a grin crossing his mouth.

"You did terrifically," Yen hesitated for a moment and then opened his arms. "You're the best. Thanks for doing this for me… hopefully neither of them will ever find out.

"Not on my watch!" Yoto laughed and gave his brother a great big hug, lifting him up off the ground. "Keeping Avalon safe is my top priority!" Yoto put Yen down and released him from his bone-crushing embrace. "I'm glad you trusted me."

"Well, we both love Avalon, in different ways, but still…" Yen put his hands behind his back shyly. "I figured I could trust you more than anyone else."

"You're a good guy for Avalon," Yoto put his arm around Yen. "Come on, let's tap into Uncle Bart's liquor cabinet. I know where he keeps the key!"  
"What's with you and drinking lately?" Yen asked, raising a brow.

Yoto shrugged his shoulders. "It's a strange and wonderful world! Come on, you'll see!"

Little did the twins know, there was a shadow lurking just outside. Dastardos was ready to storm in and rip Avalon a metaphorical new one. He rolled up his sleeves and phased through the wall of Yen's room, positioning himself at the foot of Avalon's bed before yelling "HEY!"

Avalon's eyes shot open right away and she sat up, seeing a fuming Dastardos. "Wot… wot's wrong?"

Dastardos snorted. "You know very well what's wrong! You never want to see me again, huh?! Even after all I did for you?! I saved your _life,_ Avalon! I took you to see the stars, just like I promised! And you have the NERVE to bitch me out just because my medicine made you pass out?!" As Dastardos ranted, he moved closer and closer to Avalon, her heart pounding more and more as he approached her.

Avalon wasn't speaking, she just stared at Dastardos with her jaw wide open. Did… did he finally go insane? She never heard him talk like this before! Why was he so angry?

Yen and Yoto heard all the commotion and went running to Avalon's rescue. They threw open the door and both of them gaped when they saw Dastardos.

"Wow… that worked…" Yoto whispered to Yen. Yen elbowed him in the ribs.

"You'll be happy to know I'll never even _look _at you again, Avalon!" Dastardos snarled, not noticing the arrival of Yen and Yoto. He moved so he was nose to nose with Avalon and spat "I _hate_ you!" right in her face. With that, Dastardos flew away like a storm, flying through Yen before making his exit through the wall.

Yen shuddered for a few moments, but shook it off easily. He approached Avalon, who had buried her face in her hands, sobbing.

"Oh, Avalon… I don't know what's wrong with him…" Yen put his arm around her. "He's a scumbag. You'll be better off without him."

"Yes… yes Yen, I think yew're right…" Avalon leaned on Yen's shoulder and he let her cry it out.

"I'll leave you two alone…" Yoto said before closing the door. No wonder Avalon was crying, having Dastardos yelling at you must be the scariest thing in the universe.

"I hope she'll be okay…" Yoto swallowed before heading back to bed.

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP_

The next morning, Leena was packing up her things, her mother hovering around her like a Mothdrop around a lamp. The rest of her family was back at Arfur's Inn, packing up their own luggage. Leena's mother came to her tree house to make sure her daughter wouldn't attempt to run away at the last second.

"Now make sure you fold those clothes neatly, Helena!" Mary wrinkled her nose as Leena held up a patterned pink dress. "Why do you insist on bringing those hideous _Islander_ clothes back with you?"

"They hold good memories… I wore this dress during my trip to the city, you know…" Leena sighed as she folded up the dress and stuck it in her suitcase. Actually, she had worn it on her first date with Seedos, but she wasn't about to let her mother know that.

The Geckie Eddie gave her watched sadly from Leena's floor. She knew very well that her new owner wouldn't be sticking around. Leena was so upset by her garden's destruction that she neglected to give the little piñata a name.

Mary rolled her eyes really hard, but Leena ignored her, fighting back tears. A few moments later, there was a great big knock on the door and Eddie flew in, a few more people in tow.

"You _can't_ go, Leena, you just _can't!"_ he sobbed, pulling Leena into a giant hug and soaking her shoulder with his tears.

"Eddie, calm down…" Leena urged, patting him awkwardly on the back. He made no move to stop crying, though. The other people behind him, Seedos, Leafos, Doctor Patch, and Petula, all had grave looks on their faces.

"Leena, if you go, my business is gonna plummet!" Petula folded her hands under her chin. "Also, I never said it before, but I kinda like you… your garden was a neat place and you've got a good heart."

Leena blushed a deep dark red. She never expected to hear that from Petula, of all people!  
"For once, I agree," Leafos sighed. "You brought so much life back to my dad's garden… I know that you'd be able to fix it if you were given the chance!"

"I-I-I… I don't know wuh-what to say…" Patch nervously wrung his hands. "I… I'm going to miss you, Luh-Leena…"

"I'm gonna miss you more than anyone," Seedos admitted. He made eye contact with Leena's mother and straightened up, a look of determination on his mask. "Mrs. Collins, please let Leena stay! We all love her! We'll make _sure_ she stays safe!"

"There are more good people on this Island than bad people!" Eddie asserted, finally coming up from Leena's shoulder and wiping his eyes.

"I'd _totally_ kick Pester right in the crotch if he came anywhere near Leena again!" Petula stomped a foot. "I can't _stand_ that loser!"

"I'll keep a watchful eye over your daughter if you let her stay, Mrs. Collins," Leafos took out her Alert System and pointed to it. "I'll even keep the police on speed dial!"

"You… you all really want me to stay, huh?" Leena's eyes welled up with tears again. "I wanna stay too! Mom, please please _please_ let me stay!"

Everyone in Leena's house looked at Mary pleadingly. Without even thinking, she turned up her nose and gave a curt "No."

A silence fell over the room and the mood became gloomy. Leafos buried her mask in her hands and Patch pulled her into an embrace, whispering stuttery, soothing words. Eddie pulled a hankie out of his breast pocket and blew his nose into it. Petula groaned and shook her head at Leena's mother. As for Seedos, he quietly approached Leena and wrapped his arm around her.

"I hope you'll adjust to being back home again…" Seedos sighed. "I have a present for you."

"She doesn't need it," Mary cut in.

"Mom!" Leena glared at her.

Leena's mother let out the longest, most annoyed sigh Seedos had ever heard. "_Fine._ But make it quick! The boat is leaving soon!"

Seedos took off his backpack, reached inside, and pulled out a tiny box. Leena opened it up and inside was a glimmering gem tree seed.

"I want you to grow it in your yard," Seedos smiled sheepishly at Leena. "I dunno if it'll grow outside of Piñata Island conditions, but if it does, it'll impress your neighbors."

"Oh, Seedos, thank you so much!" Leena gave him a great big hug.

"Awww… that's sweet…" Petula couldn't help smiling. "Kinda gross, but sweet."

"Never change, Petula…" Eddie laughed through his tears.

"I'll keep my mask, too," Leena touched the cheek of it. "You made it just for me, after all. I'll hang it on my wall, okay?"

"I'm honored," Seedos squeezed Leena's hands.

"We're running out of time!" Mary exclaimed, pointing at her watch.

"I'll lead you to the docks…" Leafos sighed a bit.

"I'm going to alert everyone in town so they're all there to see you off, Leena!" Eddie pulled out his Alert System and began typing as fast as he could. "And don't worry about your Geckie; I'll happily take her back." Eddie clicked his tongue and the Geckie came bounding over, climbing up Eddie's body and resting on his shoulder. Eddie sniffled as he kept on typing. "I'm gonna miss you so much…"  
"We've had enough goodbyes!" Mary shut Leena's suitcase and thrust it at her. "Come on, Helena, we have to go!"

Leena sighed as she looked around her house, her heart sinking. She'd never spend another day in this tree house again… she was awfully fond of it. It was so tranquil and the air was fresh, and she loved waking up every morning and drinking tea on her terrace… God, she was starting to cry again…

"Okay, Mom…" Leena dragged her suitcase along, her family and friends following her. "I'm going to miss this place. Hey, can I come back to visit-"

"_No,"_ Mary said sternly.

Leena felt her heart sink down to her toes.

Today, she'd be saying goodbye to Piñata Island _forever._


	9. Finale

The doors to Arfur's Inn slammed open and Eddie burst in, his chest heaving and sweat running down his face. "Guys… everyone…" He took a moment to catch his breath, flipped his hair, and gave the semi-crowded pub a sad look. "Leena's leaving. Her and her family are waiting at the docks. I figured all of us could go say goodbye…" Eddie's usual stage finesse was completely gone. He was far too upset to put his heart into his announcement.

"It's that time already…?" Gretchen touched a finger to her lips, her brow furrowing.

Bart, who was sitting across from her, didn't need to hear the announcement twice. He downed the rest of his whiskey and stood up, approaching Gretchen and helping her out of her chair. "Shame…" he shook his head. "She had so much potential."

Arfur put the glass he was polishing back on the shelf and boomed: "We're closed, everyone! If you have a heart, get down to the docks!"

Everyone, including the off-duty Helpers, looked at each other and nodded. They all followed Eddie out the door and down to the docks, sadness hanging over them like a black cloud.

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP_

Dastardos floated through Leena's garden on his way back from his morning reaping, absent-mindedly messing with his unusually limp scarf. His heart wasn't in his work today; he didn't even play up his scariness to the cowering newbie gardeners he "visited." He just floated in, killed their piñatas, and left without saying a word.

_Stupid Avalon…_ Dastardos thought with a snort as he approached his tree. _I don't need…huh?_

Scurrying outside was Magnar, a half-eaten life candy in his mouth and a tiny, makeshift backpack made from scraps of Dastardos' bedsheets on his back. When he saw Dastardos, he looked up at him, his eyes wide. The candy dropped out of his mouth and he shrunk back, looking awfully guilty.

"Magnar…" Dastardos folded his arms and cocked a brow. "What are you _doing?"_

"I… I'm running away!" Magnar sniffled, looking away from his master. "It's all my fault you did all that dumb stuff! I encouraged you and now you're not friends with Affalon anymore!"

Dastardos couldn't help himself. He couldn't stay angry when Magnar was upset! His expression softened and he reached for his little piñata friend. "Magnar, it's not-"

"No!" Magnar hopped away from Dastardos' hand. "I don't deserve to have you as an owner!" With that, Magnar took off impossibly fast, his little legs a blur as he ran away from Dastardos.

"Wait, Magnar!" Dastardos exclaimed, floating as fast as he could after his speedy little piñata. "Come back here!"

"NO!" Magnar shouted, like a petulant child.

Dastardos silently thanked whoever would listen that he had never-ending stamina. He just had to chase Magnar until he got tired… there was no way he was letting Magnar get away!

After all, he had already lost everything else.

_VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP_

Leena's family was sitting on the dock, waiting for the boat to come in. Leena wasn't sitting with them, instead standing with the crowd that had come to see her off.

"I can't believe all of you came to say goodbye…" her eyes welled up with tears. "I… I love all of you!" She buried her face in her hands and began to cry.

"Aww, Leena, don't be sad…" Storkos pulled her into a warm hug.

"We're all going to miss you…" Leafos said softly, joining the hug.

"Storkos said she'd teach me how to use that 'me-mail' thing that's so popular…" Seedos edged in, resting his head on Leena's shoulder. "That way we don't have to say goodbye forever…"

A few more people got in on it and soon Leena was wrapped in what may have been the biggest group hug in Piñata Island history. The warmth of all the people around her only made her sadder; she'd never see any of these people again for as long as she lived…

"Helena, come on!" Mary's shrill voice pierced the air and yanked Leena out of her dreamland. "The boat is here!"

"Don't keep the captain waiting, sweetie!" Leena's father called.

Leena let out a long, drawn out sigh. "I guess I've gotta go…" With that, everyone reluctantly broke apart and waved goodbye to Leena. Everyone said how much they would miss her and that they hoped she'd somehow be able to come to visit in the future.

"Bye, Seedos…" Leena gave him another hug, just one for the two of them. "I'll never forget you. I'll keep my mask forever; even when I'm an old lady. I'll pass it down to my kids, okay?"

Seedos' stomach tied into knots. He appreciated the gesture, but the idea of Leena having children with someone else… _No, Seedos. She's not yours. She never was, and she never will be._

_ Great, now I've made myself sad._

Seedos ruffled Leena's hair and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "I won't forget you either. I promise."

"HELENA!"

"I'm coming, Mom! Geez…" Leena grabbed her suitcase and carried it over to the dock. Everyone hollered out more goodbyes as Leena's mother pushed her onto the boat. Leena leaned over the side and sighed and Mary sniffed in disapproval.

She couldn't believe she raised such a sentimental fool!

Seedos sniffled and fought back tears. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Storkos, who was smiling sympathetically at him. He threw himself into her arms and started to sob into her poofy dress.

Seeing Seedos cry got Eddie going. He hurled himself onto the ground like a tantruming two year old and sobbed like one too. Maxime rolled her eyes, but Petula crouched down and did her best to soothe Eddie.

The boat retracted its ramp and began to float away. Leena raised her arm to give one last wave, but then a realization struck her like lightning.

It was crazy, it was contrived, it might not even work, but God, she was _desperate._

She didn't want to leave her home.

She didn't want to leave her garden to rot.

This is what Pester probably wanted!

He wanted Leena to leave so Jardiniero's garden would never be as glorious as before. He wanted her heart to break. He wanted the Village to lose one of its gardeners. Leena wasn't going to let that happen.

Besides, she had lots of important things to do!

Without thinking for another moment, Leena took a deep breath, put her hands up above her head, and dove into the sea.

"HELENA!" Mary exclaimed, attempting to bolt towards the side of the boat and jump in after her daughter. Leena's father gasped and grabbed his wife, holding onto her tightly.

"Girls, help me out!" he called over his shoulder.

"Y-yes, Dad!" Alyssa nodded and the two of them held onto their mother and rendered her immobile. Mary cawed and crowed like an angry Crowla, but her family didn't let her go until the boat was a safe distance from the Island.

"Aww, Leena left her stuff!" Renee observed, sticking out her lower lip at the suitcase.

"I don't think she cares," Alyssa snickered.

"I hope she's safe…" Leena's father bit his thumbnail, looking at his fuming wife. She flumped down on the suitcase, her arms folded and her face purple with rage. "We should have never tried to make her come home with us."

"I hope she catches the flu; that'll teach her…" Mary groused.

Meanwhile, Leena was climbing the ladder next to the dock, her clothes heavy and her nose full of water. She ignored all of that stuff; she _had_ to get over to her friends and let her know she was staying!

Leena sprinted from the dock at full speed, dripping wet. She didn't care that she might fall, she didn't care that she ruined her clothes, she _couldn't leave the Island._

The crowd around the dock stopped gaping and began chattering in their confusion.

"She's _crazy!"_

"I didn't expect her to do _that..."_

"So I wasn't seeing, things, then?"

Seedos was the most shocked of all. He stepped forward, the giant mouth of his mask wide open with shock.

Leena finally reached him and doubled over with her hands on her knees, panting. After a moment, she raised her head, locked eyes with Seedos, and placed her hands on the sides of his mask.

Seedos broke out of his shocked trance, gave a quick nod, and Leena moved his mask aside. Neither of them cared about the crowd at all.

Leena leaned in and kissed Seedos, wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she could as if someone would take him away from her. Seedos bristled from shock at first, but relaxed into the kiss after a few moments. After years of tension, all of the passion Leena kept bottled up came flooding out through this one kiss. Seedos was a bit overwhelmed, but he did his best to keep up with her. The noises of the crowd faded away and all Seedos could hear was Leena's little breaths as she kissed him.

The crowd silenced and their jaws dropped. Storkos was an exception; jumping in the air like an over-enthused jack-in-the-box and shouting "WOO! GO SEEDOS!"

Leena pulled away from Seedos and smiled into his uncovered eyes.

"Seedos…" Leena squeezed his hands, her cheeks turning pink. "I…I love you too."

Seedos said nothing, but pulled Leena into a tight hug. He couldn't believe she'd take such a risk to stay here... to run back and tell him that she loves him! Leena really was something else...

Leena embraced him back, a tear rolling down her cheek from underneath her mask. It was good to be home.

One person in the crowd started clapping slowly. Before Seedos and Leena knew it, the whole crowd had erupted into loud applause. Seedos put his mask back into his rightful place and the two of them smiled at the crowd, their arms still around each other.

"I knew she couldn't stay away! I knew it!" Eddie laughed through his tears, pulling both Maxime and Petula into an enormous group hug. Maxime and Petula briefly looked disgusted at the very idea of being in close proximity to each other, but after a few seconds they laughed and hugged.

"You're crazy…" Gretchen gawked at Leena. Leena had never seen Gretchen looked so shocked… After a few moments, Gretchen smirked and said: "I like you even more now."

"While I don't exactly approve of your taste in men…" Jardiniero wrinkled his nose at Seedos, who pouted. "I'm glad you'll still be here to work on my garden. If only my legs still worked, I'd help you to the best of my ability…"

"We'll _all_ help her, Dad," Leafos smiled at her father. "Let's all make Leena's garden one the community will be proud of!"

"Hear, hear!" Sahari threw her fist in the air. Everyone followed suit, cheering loudly.

"We should get you dried off…" Seedos whispered to Leena once the cheering subsided.  
"No kidding…" Leena laughed a bit, wringing out her skirt. "I'm gonna catch a cold…"

Everyone, their moods lifted immensely, headed back into town, happily chattering and laughing together.

Though there was one observer who wasn't happy at all…

Dastardos, having chased Magnar halfway across the island, finally caught up to him at the jungle at the edge of the beach.

"Got you, you little runt!" Dastardos had grown frustrated with the Macaraccoon during the chase and was proud of himself when he scooped him up. "Ugh, don't ever run away from me again! Don't you know how... worried..." Dastardos trailed off, looking at the beach, his lips parting with shock.

"Stardos?" Magnar prodded him. "Helloooo?"

Dastardos had looked up just in time to see Leena run over to Seedos and plant an enormous kiss on him.

_Guess she's… not leaving after all._ Dastardos thought without any emotion. After a few moments of reflection, a realization hit him like a train.

_He's all grown up. He doesn't need me anymore. Hell, he __hates__ me. I bet he'd be happy to never see me again… he wouldn't be the only one._ Dastardos' chest felt heavy. He hadn't felt that way in a long, long time… it felt weird, but he did his best to ignore it. _Patch wouldn't care if I was gone. Leafos wouldn't care. Especially Avalon, since she obviously detests me now…_

Dastardos started shaking. Magnar looked up at him, his brow furrowed with concern. "Stardos… are you okay?"

Magnar got his answer when two drops of water hit his back.

Fat tears poured down Dastardos' mask and landed on Magnar. Dastardos did his best to stop them, but he absolutely couldn't. He also couldn't remember the last time he cried… it felt _awful._ He missed being numb to everything; Pester was right. He really _had_ gone soft…

"Magnar…" Dastardos sniffled, shifting Magnar to one arm so he could wipe his eyes. "Magnar, we're leaving."

"Where are we going?" Magnar asked, placing his paws on Dastardos' chest in an attempt to comfort him.

"Anywhere but here." With that, Dastardos tucked Magnar into his sweater and took off towards the horizon, beginning a long, aimless journey to find a place far far away from the Village he used to call home. "I can't stand this place."

"Okay…" Magnar nestled himself against Dastardos' ice cold chest. He was going to miss the old tree which had been his home for so long… he hoped there would be life candy wherever they were going. Maybe the new place would actually make Dastardos happy…

"Don't worry, Magnar…" Dastardos was still crying, but Magnar could tell from the heaviness of his voice that he was fighting back tears. "We'll be fine."

Magnar hoped with all his heart that Dastardos was right.

_The End_


End file.
